The Prophecy of the Interficio
by liljemsey
Summary: Buffy and Faith find themselves in a world where magic is done with wands and Slayers are nothing but a myth. They discover their fates are intertwined in this new world and their help is needed in a fight against an evil like they have never faced before
1. Toto, We're not in Kansas Anymore

**A/N: **This is set in between Harry Potter season five and six and Buffy season three before Bad Girls. I'm going to do my best to get all the facts correct but I'm not an expert so forgive me if I get anything wrong.

**The Prophecy of the Interficio**

**Chapter One: Toto, We're not in Kansas Anymore**

Buffy Summers stretched languidly as she woke, shivering slightly in the unusual early morning chill. Deciding she could afford a couple more minutes sleep before school she reached to pull her duvet tightly over her shoulders frowning when the material beneath her fingers was not the usual silky mink she was used to but felt rather like a thick wool. It wasn't unusual for her mother to come and cover her with a blanket during the night should she think her daughter might be cold so she thought nothing more of it as she pulled it tightly around herself only frowning when she felt some resistance. She tugged on it again and her eyes opened in surprise as she was rolled over when she felt someone tug back.

Her brow furrowed when she opened her eyes to be faced with familiar brunette hair strewn out on the pillow next to her. She couldn't remember asking her sister Slayer to stay over after patrol last night but she supposed it was possible she had as she had taken a rather nasty hit to the head so some things were a little bit fuzzy. She suddenly realised just how close she and Faith were lying, in fact she could feel the heat of the other girl's skin through her thin pyjama bottoms where their legs touched and Buffy got the sudden impression that they were in a bed much smaller than she was used to.

It was only when she realised this that Buffy took a better look at her surroundings. She was definitely not in her bedroom where she had gone to bed the previous night and she sat up abruptly when the realisation hit her, knocking Faith off the bed in the process. The brunette hit the floor with a thud and a yell and rubbed the back of her head as she sat up staring up at Buffy with a disgruntled look on her face.

"Pretty," Buffy smirked momentarily forgetting their mystery location at the sight of Faith's messy bed hair.

"You usually go throwing people out of bed B?" Faith grumbled, "Wait never mind, of course ya do, you're Buffy 'vanilla' Summers," the brunette said a smirk of her own gracing her features.

"Me throwing you out of the bed aside, do you notice anything strange about where we are?" Buffy asked her counterpart.

The two girls looked around the room, Faith standing in a hurry when she realised she wasn't anywhere familiar. They were in a circular room with a high stone ceiling and walls, five beds lined the walls each with a large trunk sitting at the foot and the beds were covered with woollen quilts made of red and yellow yarn.

"Where the fuck are we?" Faith asked spinning around to face the other Slayer.

"I have no idea," Buffy shrugged, "Oh! Maybe we're dreaming and the Powers are sending us some weird message. Quick try and wake up."

The two Slayers pinched themselves on the arm and scrunched their eyes closed willing themselves to wake up. Buffy cracked an eye open hoping to find herself back in the familiar four walls of her bedroom and sighed when she was greeted by the cold stone walls.

"Didn't work," Faith sighed flopping down onto the bed next to Buffy.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Buffy sighed running a hand through her hair, "We need to figure out where we are and how we got here as fast as we can so we can work out a way to get home."

"Why do ya wanna get home so quick? You got a hot date or something?" Faith asked nudging the other Slayer in the ribs.

"As a matter of fact Scott and I do have a date planned for this weekend," Buffy huffed.

"I don't know what you see in that loser," Faith pouted.

"I seem to remember you flirting shamelessly with that loser on one of your first days in Sunnydale."

"Yeah well that was before I knew how lame he was," Faith retorted.

"Scott isn't lame! You know what, whatever we need to concentrate on getting home," Buffy said standing up and pacing the room.

"You're damn lucky I wore PJ's to bed last night or you might've been getting quite the floor show right about now," Faith said leaning back on the bed and putting her hands behind her head.

Buffy looked at the younger girl for a second before a chuckle escaped her lips. She and Faith hadn't really gotten along at first but they had started to hit their stride and she had to admit that she admired the younger girl's brazen attitude and flirtatious sense of humour. In fact she was often envious of the other girl's enthusiasm for slaying as Faith always seemed to revel in the fact that she was the Slayer and saw it as a gift rather than a burden which it often seemed to feel like to Buffy.

"Maybe it was fate," Buffy smiled, "The first time you were pyjamas is the first time we wake up in bed together somewhere we don't know."

"So," Faith said hopping off the bed and heading towards the door, "Why don't we find out exactly where we are."

"Faith wait!" Buffy called stopping the brunette in her tracks, "We have no idea what or who is on the other side of that door. For all we know someone bought us here to kill us, we need weapons or a plan or something, we can't just go out there unprepared."

"Well I don't exactly go to sleep cuddling my stake," Faith said, "Listen girlfriend we're pretty handy with our God given gifts," she said wiggling her fists in front of Buffy's face, "I say we use what we were given if we feel the need."

"Okay but it is stealth first and fists second," Buffy said, "Faith promise me you won't punch the first person you see."

"Spoilsport," Faith pouted, "Fine there will be no punching unless Princess Buffy says so."

"Promise?"

"Slayer's honour."

"Okay, let's go," Buffy said opening the door slowly and peeking out.

Once she was sure there was nobody out there she opened the door fully to reveal a spiralling stone staircase. Their door seemed to open on the middle layer and they had the choice of either going up or downstairs.

"Up or down?" Faith whispered into her ear.

"Harder to escape from up," Buffy reasoned.

"Down it is then."

The two Slayers made their way down the stairs slowly, their bodies tense and ready to attack if anything jumped out at them. Buffy shivered as the cold stone permeated her entire body and she threw a look back at Faith whose short shorts and singlet top were doing nothing to keep the bitter cold away.

"Sunnydale isn't usually this cold," Buffy whispered.

"So we're probably not in Sunnyhell anymore then," Faith said her teeth chattering as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms to try and get some warmth into them.

The staircase opened out into what looked to be a large living room, complete with cushy red sofas and a fireplace that if lit would have warmed the room considerably. As it was there were no lights on and the long tapestries that hung on the walls cast eerie shadows across the room from what little light came in from the windows. They crept cautiously through the room both looking over their shoulders as if they were expecting someone to be there. The room narrowed into a long passageway that was covered by an entrance that swung open when they approached it. The two girls jumped back when it opened not expecting it to happen and approached it hesitantly their bodies on alert for what was waiting for them on the other side.

"Age before beauty," Faith said earning her a glare from the blonde Slayer.

Buffy grabbed the younger girl's hand so the two of them had to exit through the corridor together. Their Slayer connection hummed strongly at the physical contact calming them both as they exited into unfamiliar ground.

"Holy shit," Faith said summing up Buffy's thoughts exactly as they took in what they had entered.

They were in a room that looked to be about as wide as the gym back in Sunnydale. The walls were lined with pictures that upon closer inspection seemed to be moving. Upon looking up and down there were dozens of large stone staircases that rumbled as they moved from one floor to another.

"What the hell is this place?" Faith asked looking around in wonder.

"This has to be a dream," Buffy said pinching herself again scowling when nothing happened.

"B that man in the picture just winked at me!" Faith said incredulously pointing to a picture of a knight in armour sitting atop an impressive black stallion.

"Your beauty is radiant m'lady," the knight said dipping his head.

The girls squealed and backed away from the painting quickly only to find themselves on a staircase that began to rumble and move. It was Faith who grabbed for Buffy's hand this time and the two girls hung on to each other as the staircase crossed the cavernous room to rumble to a stop joining at another level.

"Come on!" Buffy said pulling on Faith's hands as the two Slayers ran down the empty corridor their footsteps echoing off the empty hall.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't take anything last night but it definitely feels like I'm trippin' or something 'cause this place is insane," Faith said as they ran.

They didn't know where they were running but at every corner there was another painting whose occupants called out to them making the girls even more apprehensive. They were in such a hurry to get away after what looked like a ghost riding a horse had popped out of a wall just in front of them that they weren't looking where they were going and soon found themselves lying flat on their backs after running into something solid.

The man who towered above them was dressed head to toe in black, his cape billowed out around him as he glared down at the two girls. His greasy black hair hung to his shoulders and his eyes were cold as he stared them down, his hand holding what looked to be a really thin stake.

"Identify yourselves immediately," he said pointing his stake at them threateningly.

"Hey dude we don't mean any harm," Faith said raising her hands in surrender.

"She's right, we don't even know where we are," Buffy said nodding.

The man in front of them did not lower his stake; instead he swooped down and placed it under Buffy's chin.

"Hey!" Faith cried lunging at him in an attempt to pull his stake away from Buffy.

"_Stupefy!" _he called turning his stake on the brunette girl.

Buffy watched in horror as a jet of red light poured from the tip of the man's stake and hit Faith directly in the chest causing her body to go rigid before she slumped backwards, her body going limp as unconsciousness overtook her.

"What did you do to her?" Buffy cried itching to go and check that Faith was alright but staying put as the man turned his stake on her.

"Don't play stupid with me; you know full well what I did. Now identify yourself before you suffer the same fate as your companion," he sneered.

"Buffy Summers," she said, "Seventeen, Capricorn."

"Do not joke around with me girl," the man growled.

"I'm not joking, I don't know what you want to hear from me but that's who I am," Buffy said eyeing his stake warily.

"Get on your feet," he said waving his stake at her, "Now!"

She did as he said throwing another glance to Faith who still lay motionless on the floor.

"Unfortunately it is not for me to decide the fate of intruders into the castle, although I'm sure the both us know the fate of those who choose to do the work of the Dark Lord," he sneered, "Azkaban will indeed be willing to take two spies such as yourselves."

"We're not spies!" Buffy cried, "We have no idea how we got here I swear."

"The Imperius Curse excuse will not save you now," the man sneered pointing his stake at Faith, "_Mobilicorpus," _he said and Buffy's eyes widened as Faith's unconscious body lifted off the ground. "You will walk in front of me," the man said indicating to Buffy, "You try and reach for your wand and you won't be as lucky as your companion."

Buffy did what he said only because she was in complete shock. She walked in front of the man with Faith's body floating eerily next to her. She wanted so badly to reach over and make sure the other girl wasn't dead but she feared what the man would do to her so she kept her hands firmly by her sides as they walked through the empty hallways. He had mentioned her not reaching for her wand which she supposed was what he was holding in his hands as opposed to a stake. It had looked like magic only not how she was used to seeing it done. Willow was only just beginning to explore the notion of wicca but she had never mentioned the fact that she would need a wand to perform any of her spells. In fact the redhead had all but mocked the stereotype of a witch with a wand and a broomstick. There was of course the possibility that this was actually all just a dream but something deep inside her was telling her that it was all very real. She followed the man's directions blindly not wanting to do anything that would provoke him into hurting herself or Faith further. She threw a quick glance at Faith's face hoping for some sign that the other girl was okay but Faith's feature's were slack in unconsciousness and Buffy couldn't tell while moving if she was breathing or not. They eventually came to a stop in front of a large stone statue of a gargoyle whose wings were open and curled forward as if it were preparing for flight.

"You will see that not even Dumbledore is kind to those who fight for the Dark Lord," the man said cruelly before turning to face the large statue, "Sherbet Lemon."

**A/N: Please send me through some reviews, I've never written anything like this before so I'm kind of nervous about it.**


	2. Of All the Castles in the World You Walk

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for all your reviews. I'm glad that you're interested in the story and I really hope I can do both fandoms justice.

**Chapter Two: Of All the Castles in the World You Walk into Mine**

In what felt like the thousandth time that day Buffy felt her eyes widen as she witnessed the impossible. After the man had said those words the stone gargoyle had made a loud rumbling noise and turned until a stone staircase revealed itself. She grunted as the man prodded her sharply in the back with his wand, an indication that he wanted her to move and she ground her teeth to stop herself from turning around and punching him in the face. If possible the air got colder the higher they climbed and from what glimpses she could get out of the tiny windows that appeared sporadically along the walls Buffy could see rolling hills that gave way into a lake that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

The stairs eventually evened out onto a small platform with a large wooden door which the man pushed past Buffy to knock on. While he was distracted for a moment Buffy took the opportunity to discreetly reach down and feel Faith's pulse which she was relieved to feel was beating steadily in the other girl's wrist. A voice called for them to come in from the other side of the door and Buffy suddenly wished that Faith was conscious so at least they could face whoever it was on the other side together.

The room she was pushed into was a circular shape that had paintings lining the walls. She could see the men in the paintings moving around, some of them reading, some of them drinking tea and Buffy almost smiled when one of them waved happily at her. The walls were covered in bookcases and spindly tables around the room housed delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and puffed smoke every so often. In the centre of the room stood a large desk behind which an old man sat his chin resting on his hands. His hair was long and white and his beard disappeared under the desk he was sitting behind. He was dressed in what looked like a long robe made of a silvery blue material but what grabbed Buffy's attention the most was the way his bright blue eyes sparkled as he smiled happily at them.

"Ah Severus I see you have found our guests," the older man smiled at the man still pointing his wand at Buffy.

"Our guests? Headmaster these girls were roaming the halls with no legitimate reason for being there.I have no idea how they apparated within the castle walls but surely we must be at our utmost cautious with all that is happening," the younger man spluttered angrily.

"You see that is where you are wrong they are here for legitimate reasons, they are here as my guests," the older man said standing from his seat.

"Your guests? Dumbledore surely we must be restricting those we let into the castle, we can't possible know who the Dark Lord has possessed. They themselves said they couldn't remember how they got here clearly the work of the Imperius Curse, a favourite of the Death Eaters if you don't remember," Severus snapped.

"Oh I remember Severus," Dumbledore said staring intently into the younger man's eyes for a few seconds before Severus looked away, "I think that will be all we will need from you today. If you could perhaps send an owl off to the Order, Arthur will be happy to know our two young guests have arrived."

"You'll have to excuse Professor Snape," Dumbledore said once the younger man had left, "He's not very trusting of strangers. Now I'm sure you have numerous questions Miss Summers but I'm sure you're also eager for young Miss Lehane here to wake up."

Buffy nodded dumbly, shocked that this man seemed to know her name and Faith's which she herself hadn't even known.

"Now I've heard that Miss Lehane here can be quite feisty, perhaps I can persuade her through sweets to keep her cool," Dumbledore winked holding out a bowl of jellybeans to Buffy.

"You'll be surprised how far candy will get you with Faith," Buffy said taking one of the offered jellybeans and popping it in her mouth only to spit it out when she discovered it tasted like boiled cabbage.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans," Dumbledore chuckled, "I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across an ear wax flavoured bean."

There was just something about this man that instantly put Buffy at ease. It was like deep down the Slayer within her was telling her that she could trust him and if she had learnt anything in her time as a Slayer it was to trust her instincts.

"She's okay right," Buffy said looking over at Faith's unconscious body that still hovered off the ground.

"She's fine, Professor Snape has just stunned her but she will be okay when she wakes up, perhaps a bit groggy but maybe we can find her a coffee flavoured bean to perk her up," Dumbledore winked reaching into the bowl to pull out a dark brown bean.

In his other hand Dumbledore withdrew a wand that was darker in colour than Snape's which sported an intricate looking design on the handle. He motioned with his wand at Faith and the brunette Slayer's body lowered gently to the floor.

"_Rennervate,_" he said waving his wand at Faith's still form. As the beam of light hit Faith's body Buffy watched on as the younger girl stretched and sat up rubbing her eyes groggily. Faith shook her head as if to try and physically shake off the effects of the spell before her eyes widened comically as she took in the room around her. As the spell began to wear off she suddenly jumped off the floor in one fluid movement her body tense as she looked around for the man who had stunned her.

"B, are you alright? Where is that bastard I need to show him how we Americans welcome our guests," she said her fists clenching. "He's gone," Buffy said approaching the other girl carefully, "You can put your fists of fury away, but thanks for probably reinforcing every unfriendly stereotype of Americans to Dumbledore."

"What the fuck is a Dumbledore?" Faith asked calming when the blonde placed a soft hand on her shoulder.

"I'm more of a who," Dumbledore chuckled stepping forward and holding out his hand, "Although I'm sure some of my students might disagree."

Off of Buffy's encouraging look Faith stepped forward and shook the older man's hand, her eyes flicking over the unusual garment he wore. She stepped back quickly after he had released her and Buffy stepped forward to shake his offered hand.

"Well now that you have recovered," he said smiling kindly at Faith, "Which I must apologise for, Severus is often slow to trust, which in these dark times is not always a bad thing but I'm sure you don't appreciate such an unkind welcome. Perhaps we should just let bygones be bygones and get on with proper introductions," he said moving swiftly over to his desk and indicating the two chairs on the other side for the two girls to sit on.

Buffy shrugged when Faith gave her a questioning look and did what he indicated, the younger girl trailing several steps behind. Buffy couldn't help but smirk internally at Dumbledore's words about Snape as he had so reminded her exactly of how Faith would have reacted should the situation have been in reverse. As Dumbledore had said Snape was slow to trust something which he shared with the brunette Slayer and their first instinct was to threaten, to use their power first and to ask questions later. She probably wouldn't be sharing these insights with the still fuming girl beside her though as she wasn't really in the mood to take a Slayer powered fist to the face.

"Now that we're all conscious why don't we do proper introductions," Dumbledore said smiling at the two girls across the desk, "Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Buffy Summers, student at Sunnydale High and thoroughly confused," Buffy said.

"I'm Faith," the brunette Slayer said simply making Buffy roll her eyes.

"Excellent and I do offer the warmest of welcomes to our school, we are of course very thankful that you came," Dumbledore said his eyes sparkling.

"Where exactly did we come?" Faith asked and Buffy could tell from the way she was sitting that the other girl hadn't relaxed. Her back was stiff against the seat and Buffy could see how tense she was holding herself, ready to spring across the table and attack should the need arise. She was sure that Faith would be feeling the non-threatening vibes that seemed to roll of Dumbledore in waves which she knew would be confusing the younger girl to no end. You had to earn Faith's trust and so far it seemed that these people had yet to do so.

"Sunny England is what I believe the tourists like to refer to it," Dumbledore said, "Although we see far fewer sunny days here than what I would like, particularly of late."

"So why are we here? I mean this isn't just some wacky dream where my subconscious is telling me that I need to eat more broccoli or something is it?" Buffy asked as a magnificent bird with fiery red and orange feathers flew through the open window and landed on Dumbledore's desk.

"Tell me, what do you know about magic?" Dumbledore asked stroking his fingers over the bird's back.

"Magic? You mean like rabbits out of hats, cut the lady in two kind of deal?" Faith asked.

"Not quite," Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling in amusement at her answer.

"Well my friend Willow is studying wicca," Buffy said.

"Yes, a quite brilliant form of magic but not what I'm referring to. You see wicca relies on the elements, earth, sea, fire etcetera in order for spells to be produced there are however witches and wizards such as myself whose magic comes from within. We are born with it in our blood and we rely on wands and incantations to harness our power," Dumbledore said.

"So how come we don't see people waving wands around everywhere?" Faith asked crossing her arms over her chest sceptically.

"People see what they want to see," Dumbledore said simply.

The two girls sitting opposite him stopped their questioning as they pondered that. They had indeed come to notice this in their own profession with people who were attacked by vampires and demons finding a simple explanation for what they had seen.

"There are wizarding communities all across the globe, some are secluded and protected but many operate within usual Muggle society," Dumbledore said.

"Muggle?" Buffy questioned.

"You two are Muggles," he explained.

"Hey! Watch who you're calling a Muggle!" Faith exclaimed standing in her seat, "B I knew we coudn't trust this dude with the magic wands and with the name calling. Let's get out of here."

"A Muggle is a non magical folk," Dumbledore hastily explained as the brunette pushed her seat back, "It is simply our terminology for those who do not possess magic. I'm sorry if I offended you but there is really no malice behind the word."

"Faith its okay," Buffy said to her sister Slayer. She was intrigued as to why they were there but knew that the younger girl's hostility came from a logical place, even in a world where demons and vampires existed it still sounded strange to hear that there were wizarding communities where people waved magic wands to do spells. Faith reluctantly sat back down and Buffy reached over and took her hand, surprised that the other Slayer had actually allowed her to do so. They weren't exactly the touchy feely sort of friends but the hum of their Slayer connection always served to calm them down so Buffy hoped that she could keep the other girl calm at least long enough so that Dumbledore could explain why exactly they were there.

"So as I was saying the magical community is governed very much like the Muggle community, we have a government and laws that dictate how a wizard or witch is to use their magic. Most in the wizarding world live in harmony with one another, from age eleven students are sent to magical schools such as this one where they are taught how to properly use their magic. There are of course some witches and wizards who exploit their power and who use it for purely evil and malevolent means," Dumbeldore said his eyes darkening.

Buffy looked over at Faith who was watching the older man intently as if she were searching his face for any sign that he wasn't telling the truth. Buffy was impressed that the younger girl had actually sat back down and listened to the wizard's explanation. Faith usually wasn't the sit back and listen kind of girl but there must have been something in his story that had her interested and that in itself made Buffy even more eager to hear what he had to say.

"Tell me, does the name Voldemort mean anything to you?"

**A/N: Again thanks so much for your reviews, I would love to hear what you think about this one.**


	3. Fasten your seatbelts It's going to be

**Chapter Three: Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night**

"Voldemort?" Buffy asked rolling the word along her tongue.

"Kind of sounds like a drink I had once," Faith mused.

"If only we were to be so lucky Miss Lehane," Dumbledore sighed, "Voldemort is the most powerful dark wizard that we have seen in hundreds and hundreds of years. He is so feared that the majority of the wizarding community will not speak his name and along with an army of followers he wishes to take over both the wizarding and Muggle worlds. Voldemort will kill anybody who gets in his way using the Killing Curse which to this day only one person has ever survived. When he was just one year old a student who studies here called Harry Potter survived the Killing Curse as a result of his mother's sacrifice and as a result Voldemort was disembodied. He became a mere shadow of his former self and his followers disbanded fearing their leader was gone forever. Voldemort survived for years some believe hiding out in Europe until he managed just under a year ago to get his body back and he now has a vendetta not only against Harry Potter but he is once again out to gain total control of, not to be melodramatic but the entire world."

The two girls shivered whether from the cold or from the story they were just told they didn't know. The name which just moments before had had no meaning now induced a cold feeling of dread at the base of their spines. It was not the fact that this wizard wanted to take over the world they were more than familiar with that it was more that he could kill by saying a spell and waving his wand. The sheer instantaneity and almost casual way in which it could be done is what made their stomachs drop.

"So this Cohort guy he couldn't kill a tiny baby?" Faith asked.

"Voldemort," Dumbledore corrected, "And no, it would seem that Harry and Voldemort's destinies are entangled with one another's so much so that there is a Prophecy that revolves around their future. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives," Dumbledore continued as if he were recounting a distant memory.

Both Slayers nodded somewhat understanding the nature of prophecies. They had both been involved in one and had both managed to thwart whatever the prophecy had foretold. Buffy assumed that they were there to help this Harry Potter to fight Voldemort and was about to voice as much when a knock on the thick wooden door interrupted her.

"Come in Severus," Dumbledore called.

Before the greasy haired man had even stepped fully through the door Faith was up and out of her seat, grabbing him by the throat and holding him up against the stone wall.

"Hey Dumbledore I think this bastard might be one of those Voldemort's guys," she sneered tightening her grip on the spluttering wizard, "Fucker thinks he can just put a spell on anyone who walks in his path."

"Faith," Buffy said cautiously.

"I assure you Miss Lehane that Severus is not working for Voldemort," Dumbledore said standing from his desk, "Whilst it may have been rash of him to Stun you before he had the whole story he believed he was acting for the safety of himself and the rest of the castle which with Voldemort's return is not always necessarily a bad thing."

"Well this asshat went about waving his wand at the wrong person," Faith said shaking Snape a little. Buffy was only a little worried that the dark haired man was turning a little blue as Faith's grip around his throat tightened. There was just something about the man that rubbed her the wrong way and clearly Faith felt the same way.

"To be fair he couldn't have known," Buffy said holding up her hand to stop Faith's indignant reply, "Still doesn't excuse the fact that he knocked my friend unconscious when we were telling the truth about not knowing how we had got here."

"Perhaps there may have been better ways for Severus to handle the situation but I really would prefer if Miss Lehane left him with his head attached, he is a rather valuable member of my teaching staff," Dumbledore said.

"Let him go Faith," Buffy urged the younger girl.

Faith stared at Snape for a minute before she let him go and he stumbled before regaining his balance. After gasping and rubbing his throat Snape stood and readjusted his robe before sneering at the brunette girl.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" he looked down his nose distastefully.

Buffy grabbed the younger Slayer's arms before she had a chance to lunge at him again and pulled her back over to her chair.

"Severus if you would abstain from antagonising our guests," Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose suddenly reminding Buffy very much of Giles, "What did the Order have to say?"

"They will be expecting you shortly," Snape told him, "Arthur is still at the Ministry but Molly was going to send word that they were here and he is going to meet us at Headquarters."

"Excellent, we should hurry then if they are awaiting our arrival," Dumbledore said, "If you wouldn't mind following us ladies we are going to go and meet the other members of the Order and everything will be explained then."

For a man who looked to be quite old Dumbledore moved with a swiftness and grace that raised the eyebrows of both Slayers who were hurrying along behind he and Professor Snape. They were unable to hold back gasps of wonder and awe as they hurried through the castle and through the castle grounds to a carriage that was attached to what looked like a skeletal winged horse with the face of a dragon and large blank, white, shining eyes. Buffy shuddered as one of the creatures turned to look at her and moved to stand closer to Faith.

"What the hell are those?" Faith asked.

"Thestrals," Dumbledore answered as he helped Buffy and then Faith up into the topless carriage, "Do not fear they won't attack unless they are provoked.

"That's comforting," Faith muttered as the carriage started moving.

"Not to be all high maintenance and all but I really don't want to meet strangers wearing my yummy sushi pyjamas," Buffy said.

"Of course, my apologies," Dumbledore said waving his wand at them.

Their pyjama's disappeared and they both found themselves dressed in jeans and for Faith black longsleeved shirt and brown leather jacket and Buffy in a white longsleeved shirt and black leather jacket. Buffy nodded appreciatively as she felt the soft leather of her jacket whilst Faith crinkled her brow as she stared at Dumbledore's wand as if she were trying to figure out exactly where the clothes had come from.

"Once we get off of Hogwarts property we can disapparate to the Headquarters," Dumbledore explained to the Slayers.

"I'm not even going to ask what that means," Buffy said.

They travelled in silence apart from the bubbly tune Dumbledore hummed under his breath. A couple of times throughout the journey Buffy glanced over at Faith but the younger wasn't paying any attention to her, she was too busy glaring at Snape who sat opposite her in the carriage. Shaking her head Buffy concentrated on their surroundings which had changed from a thick smattering of trees into what looked to be a small town.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade," Dumbledore said as their carriage stopped and they all hopped out, "From third year our students are allowed to visit and I'm told they spend the majority of their time in Honeydukes the sweet shop."

"Not sure why if that jellybean I had earlier is anything to go by," Buffy grimaced remembering the boiled cabbage flavoured jellybean she had eaten earlier.

"That was rather unfortunate," Dumbledore chuckled, "But if you ever get the chance you must try a Sherbet Lemon, they are quite extraordinary. Now Miss Summers if you would just take my arm and Miss Lehane you Severus' we can head off to the Headquarters."

"Oh hell no!" Faith cried crossing her arms, "There is no way I'm taking hold of anything of his."

Dumbledore and Buffy shared and exasperated look although Buffy could see that his eyes were twinkling in amusement.

"You're kind of a pain you know that," Buffy said to Faith as the two girls switched places.

"Now what?" Faith asked as she placed a tentative hand on Dumbledore's arm.

"Hold on," Dumbledore smiled.

With a loud pop Buffy felt like her insides were being squeezed through a space they shouldn't fit. Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes to stem the overwhelming nausea that flowed through her as her feet hit the ground. Next to her she could hear Faith groan having no doubt to be feeling the same effects as she was. It took several moments before the two girls felt like they could open their eyes without being sick and to their surprise they found they were no longer in the small town of Hogsmeade but were instead on a busy suburban street standing in front of a large block of brick houses.

"What was that?" Buffy asked once she was able to find her voice.

"Disapparting," Dumbledore said simply, "Severus if I may you might wish to move a couple of spaces to your left."

"I'm sorry?" Snape asked as Faith leaned over and threw up over the bottom of his robes.

"Revenge is sweet jackass," Faith moaned as she wiped the back of her mouth on her hand.

Snape muttered a curse under his breath and waved his wand at his robes cleaning them off.

"Can't say you weren't warned," Buffy smirked at the greasy haired man's discomfort, "You okay?" she asked Faith.

"Five by five B," Faith replied.

Dumbledore reached into his robes and pulled out his wand muttering a few words under his breath as he waved it at the block of houses. The two Slayers watched on in shock as the building began to rumble and a house seemed to appear between the two they were standing in front of. No one who was walking by or even those in the houses that were moving seemed to take any notice of what was happening around them.

"Come on," Dumbledore beckoned to the stunned girls, "Welcome to 12 Grimmauld Place, the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," he said as he opened the door and motioned them inside.

The hallway they stepped into was dark and dusty and the walls were covered in a strangely patterned wallpaper. As they got deeper into the house a curtain suddenly burst open revealing a portrait of an old woman who screamed at them.

"MUGGLES! YOU DARE BRING MUGGLES INTO THE HOUSE OF BLACK YOU FILTHY HALF BLOOD!"

"Sorry to have disturbed you Mrs Black," Dumbledore said waving his wand and making the curtains close, muffling the screaming coming from behind, "She does not like that we use her house as our headquarters."

"Clearly," Faith muttered.

"Albus? Is that you?" a voice called from an opened door casting light into the darkened hallway.

"Indeed Molly, Severus and I have bought guests," Dumbledore replied.

"Just in time as well," the woman replied, "Lunch is just about ready and if you don't get in there before Ron gets downstairs then there won't be any left."

"I'm sure our guests are hungry they have travelled a long way to be here," Dumbledore said ushering the girls through the door.

"Woah," they both murmured in unison.

**A/N: ****I won't be updating again until Monday because I'm going away for the weekend. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, explanations will come in the next update. Please send me through some reviews I love to hear what my readers are thinking.**


	4. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse

**Chapter Four: I'll make you an offer you can't refuse**

The room they walked into was warm and crowded with smiling and laughing people. The table seemed to be buckling under the mountain of food that was piled on top of it and the chairs people sat on were an odd assortment that seemed to have been pulled from numerous different sets. The dishes in the sink were being washed by a scrubbing brush that moved of its own accord and the pudding that sat at the end of the table nearest to where they had entered had what looked to be a miniature dolphin swimming happily in the chocolate sauce.

"Are you seeing this?" Faith whispered into Buffy's ear as they ducked out of the way of a plate that whizzed by their heads to sit in the sink.

"Tiny marine life in the pudding...yeah I'm seeing it," Buffy said incredulously.

"Buffy, Faith let me introduce you to the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore said simultaneously gaining everybody's attention as he spoke. Buffy felt Faith shift uncomfortably next to her when the gaze of everybody in the room turned to them.

"This is Sirius Black, it is his house in which we currently reside," Dumbledore said indicating a skinny man with shoulder length black hair and kind eyes, "Next to him we have Mundugus Fletcher, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastair Moodey, Nymphadora Tonks."

"It's just Tonks," the woman with shocking purple hair interrupted the older man, "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Dumbledore."

"I'm sorry my dear," Dumbledore said kindly, "You must forgive my forgetfulness, I am an old man you know. Now next to Tonks we have Arthur and Molly Weasley and their children Bill, Fred, George and Ginny," Dumbledore said pointing to the family all with orange hair.

"It's nice to meet you," Buffy said and Faith nodded her agreement.

"Now dears you must be starved, here have a seat," Mrs Weasley said grabbing the two Slayers by their shoulders and pushing them down into tiny space between Fred and George.

They found two plates shoved in front of them piled high with all sorts of mouth watering food and they didn't take a moment before digging in. They were indeed hungry, it had been several hours since they had eaten and for Slayers that was a big deal. Their metabolisms worked differently to those of a normal human and for that reason they needed to eat on a much more regular basis. Buffy hadn't realised exactly how hungry she had been until the first bite of roast lamb hit her lips and she bit back a moan of pleasure as the succulent meat slid down her throat.

"So you girls are from the Muggle world," Mr Weasley said with an excited smile on his face, "Tell me, what exactly does one do with a hole punch?"

"Puts holes in paper," Faith said around a mouthful of creamy mashed potato.

"Fascinating," Mr Weasley said, "And what about a spork?"

"It's like the cross between a spoon and a fork," Buffy told him, "Most people use them to eat cake or soft fruits."

"Wonderful!" Mr Weasley cried, "Fantastic, who would have thought that such a thing would have been possible."

"Oh Arthur really let the poor girls eat in peace," his wife said swatting him on the shoulder, "You must excuse him he really is fascinated by all things Muggle."

"It's okay, we're pretty much wide eyed about everything we've seen here so far," Buffy said.

The sound of thundering footsteps on the stairs made them all turn towards the doorway where a gangly redheaded teen hustled his scruffy brown haired friend through. They were followed by a bushy haired girl who rolled her eyes at their antics and pushed her way past them to sit by Ginny.

"Ron can you at least try to act like you have some manners when we have guests," Mrs Weasley said as three more plates whizzed off the shelf and onto the table. Ron looked over then taking in the table and looking for who he didn't recognise.

"Bloody hell," he said his ears reddening when he took in the new arrivals.

"Manners Ron," Mrs Weasley said hitting him over the back of the head with a tea towel.

"Sorry Mum," he blushed.

"Buffy, Faith this is Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter," Dumbledore said.

"It's nice to meet you," Buffy said again.

"Harry Potter, baby who beat that dark wizard dude?" Faith asked from next to her.

"One and the same," the scruffy haired boy said, "Only I'm not baby sized anymore."

"Oh yes Harry you're so manly," Fred teased.

"You're practically ancient," George chimed in.

"Harry and Hermione were bought up in the Muggle world as well," Mr Weasley told the two Slayers, "I'm sure you all could have some very interesting conversations about extension cords."

The atmosphere in the room was relaxed despite the strange situation they were in. Buffy and Faith found that conversation came easily between themselves and the other teens. Despite not having that much in common they got on well and it put everybody at ease. Once they were full to the brim Mrs Weasley waved her wand and their dirty dishes whizzed off the table and into the sink. In their place appeared tall glasses that were filled with a foamy golden liquid.

"It's called Butterbeer," Hermione said off of their confused looks.

"Is it real beer 'cause I'm not twenty-one yet," Buffy flushed.

"Lighten up B," Faith said taking a big gulp of her beer, "Drinking age in England is eighteen."

"Which I'm not and you're definitely not," Buffy said grabbing the mug from Faith's hand as she went to bring it to her mouth again.

"You don't have to worry they're not alcoholic," Tonks said turning back to Ginny and transforming her face so that she had the beak of a duck.

Faith spluttered into the mug she had stolen back from Buffy when she saw what the purple haired woman had done. Buffy hit her on the back as she coughed and watched in fascination as Tonks' face transformed back into her normal visage.

"Tonks is a Metamorphmagus," Hermione said, "She can change her appearance at will."

"You'll have to excuse Hermione," Ron said, "Harry and I think if she reads anymore books she'll turn into one."

"Some people appreciate learning Ronald," Hermione said indignantly.

"Well some people have better things to do with their time," Ron retorted.

"Smashing thing to say in front of your Headmaster Ronald," George applauded.

"Absolute corker of a thing to say," Fred joined his applause.

"Shut up," Ron huffed throwing his napkin across the table at them.

"Believe it or not Mr's Weasley I am more than aware what goes on in the castle," Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Albus is it about time we explained to everybody why our guests are here," the gruff voice of Alastair Moody interrupted their laughter. Both Slayers had been careful not to stare at him as the glass eye which spun madly in his eye socket made them feel like they were constantly under scrutiny.

"Of course," Dumbledore said, "I was hoping Remus would be here for the explanation but I suppose Tonks can fill him in at a later date."

"Alright Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione it's time you lot started cleaning your rooms like you promised me you were going to do ages ago," Mrs Weasley said as the named teens groaned in unison.

"Come on Mum we want to know what's going on as well," Ron pleaded.

"Come on Mrs Weasley," Harry and Hermione said.

"Molly they deserve to know," Mr Weasley reasoned with his wife.

"They are just children," Molly said shrilly.

"Who have all been exposed to more dangers than many of us have," Moody said gruffly.

"Come on dear," Mr Weasley said wrapping his arms around his wife, "Let's hear what Albus has to say."

Mrs Weasley grumbled but allowed her husband to guide her back down to her seat.

"There is a myth in our world of the Slayer, a young female bestowed with supernatural strength in which she is Chosen to fight the vampires and demons and other forces of darkness," Dumbledore said.

"But the Slayer is just a myth right, an old wives tale to help little kids sleep at night," Hermione said.

"I don't really feel like a myth do you Faith?" Buffy asked her counterpart.

"Not right now," Faith shrugged, smirking at the open mouthed faces of the other occupants in the room.

"Yes, Buffy and Faith are Slayers," Dumbledore told them.

"But there's only supposed to be one right, doesn't the story go 'One girl in all the world'?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, you see that is where the interesting part of the story begins. Two years ago Harry when you faced Voldemort after the Triwizard Tournament, when he regained his body something significant was happening simultaneously in the Muggle world. Young Miss Summers here was facing a particularly powerful vampire known as the Master and drowned, rendering her technically dead for a couple of moments. Miss Summers as you can see was resuscitated but her death allowed for another Slayer to be called and for the first time there was two Slayers activated at one time. So as Voldemort regained his body to once again become a force of powerful dark magic, in the Muggle world this was counterbalanced with an insurgence of good in the calling of two Slayers at once," Dumbledore told them.

"So we're here to help you fight this Voldemort guy right?" Buffy asked.

"In a way," Dumbledore smiled, "You see there is a Prophecy, the Prophecy of the Interficio which states that when the dark returns two supernatural warriors will come from Muggle birth and they will be crucial in determining light from dark."

"So they're like dark wizard detectors?" Ron questioned.

"That part of the prophecy isn't very clear, all we know is that the Slayers are required to be here if we are to have any chance in defeating Voldemort," Moody told them.

"I have been in contact with your Watcher Rupert Giles," Dumbledore told the Slayers.

"Giles knows we're here!" Buffy said incredulously, "Why didn't he give us a heads up before we woke up in the Twilight Zone?"

"The magic we used to get you here would not have worked had you been aware," Dumbledore explained.

"I'm okay with kicking this dude's ass," Faith shrugged, "What about you B?"

"I'm okay with it," Buffy nodded, "Just point us in the right direction."

"Well you see that is half the problem, we don't know exactly where Voldemort is hiding," Tonks told them.

"Although his followers are surely making themselves known," Mr Weasley said pulling the latest issue of the Daily Prophet from his back pocket.

"There have been spottings of Death Eaters all through Diagon Alley, most of the shops have all but closed down," Sirius said.

"Death Eaters?" Faith asked.

"It is what Voldemort's followers call themselves," Harry told her.

"Catchy," Faith said.

"So Buffy and Faith we are so pleased you are here, your presence is crucial should we wish to eventually triumph over Lord Voldemort and I wish I could stay longer but I'm afraid I am needed back at the castle. I assure you both you will be safe here and I will return as soon as I can," Dumbledore said standing from his seat.

"I'm not sure if we're meant to say thank you," Faith whispered to Buffy.

"If anything we should be thanking you Miss Lehane," Dumbledore chuckled making Faith flush.

After they showed Dumbledore out Buffy and Faith spent the afternoon getting to know the other teenagers in the house. The witches and wizards delighted in showing off all the magical enhancements the house had undergone much to Buffy and Faith's amazement. Fred and George had even let them try a few of the items they would be selling in their joke shop. Dinner had been a busy affair much the same as lunch with everyone crowded together along the long table. Buffy and Faith told stories of their slaying exploitations happy that they were able to shock the wizards just as much as the wizards were able to shock them. By the time night fell their heads were spinning with everything they had seen and learnt and as they said goodnight and headed to the room Mrs Weasley had set up for them they were more than happy to fall onto the soft purple mattresses that had been conjured.

As she lay in the dark Buffy found that she was missing her mother and her friends but the Order were friendly and welcoming so that helped take away some of the sting of being away. In all the chaos of the afternoon she had forgotten to ask Dumbledore if her mother knew what had happened to her, sure that Joyce would be panicking when she woke up to find her daughter missing. She hoped that Giles was able to explain to her what was going on so that hopefully she didn't worry too much. She was happy to be there if she could help these people as from the sounds of it Voldemort was really truly evil. She had to admit though the thought of facing him was nothing short of terrifying if he was able to kill with just the wave of his wand, in fact she wasn't even sure what they could do if he could kill them before they even made a move towards him.

"Faith, are you asleep?" she asked into the darkness.

"No, are you?" Faith replied.

"Yes, that was me talking in my sleep," Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Sorry B, kind of freakin' out a little over here," Faith said.

"It is a lot to take in," Buffy agreed.

"I don't even know what we're supposed to do," Faith said.

"I guess we just wait and see, I'm sure Dumbledore and the others will help us any way they can," Buffy said.

"You think we're gonna get one of those wand things?" Faith asked.

"I dunno, but I totally want one. You see how Dumbledore just conjured us clothes from nothing. Give me a wand and call me Buffy Spellman, I won't ever have to spend money on clothes again," Buffy said turning over so she lay on her side.

"Figures you'd get all squealy about the clothes," Faith chuckled, "What about that dinner, Mrs Weasley waved her wand and the most orgasmic chocolate cake appeared," Faith sighed wistfully.

"Can cake even be orgasmic?" Buffy asked.

"Did you even have any?"

"No."

"Well if you had you would know."

"Is there anything you can't turn into a sex reference?"

"Nope, goodnight B."

"Night Faith."

Albus Dumbledore looked up as the Transfiguration entered through his office door. Minerva McGonagall looked tired as she sat in the chair across from his desk.

"They are all settled in at Grimmauld place?" she asked rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"They fit in very well," Dumbledore smiled, "I think you'll like the Lehane girl Minerva, she has quite a bit of spirit in her."

"Did you tell them everything?"

"No, I don't believe it would be beneficial for them to know absolutely everything about why they are here."


	5. Mama always said life was like a box of

**A/N: Thank you so much for all your support so far I appreciate it more than you know. Also I know in the books Voldemort's wand is made of yew but for the purposes of this story I'm going to use the description of the wand used in the movie, I think it's creepier :) **

**Chapter Five: Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.**

_The water that dripped down from the broken pipe smelt rancid, like something had died up in there long ago and was now filtering out with the water that fell to the floor. The stone walls are covered in mould and mildew and the cold air seems to permeate through every pore in your body. _

_In the centre of the room an old man is bound and secured to a wooden beam, the deep gashes on his cheeks making blood seep down his face looking like some vile form of war paint. A large snake slithers across the floor and climbs up the imprisoned man and up around the pole he is secured to. Its tongue flicks out of its mouth and swipes over the cuts on the man's cheeks making him hiss in pain. _

"_Nagini," a cold voice whispers at your side, "What have I told you about sampling our prisoners."_

_The snake hisses something back and climbs higher up the pole so that it is wrapped around it like a creepy looking vine. _

"_So tell me," the cold voice says again echoing around the stone walls, "My young apprentice here has been torturing you for days and has done if I do say so myself a rather magnificent job." _

_A black armed robe reaches out and a pale skinned hand is revealed holding a wand made of bone which pokes at the old man's side making him groan in pain. The wand is waved making the old man's shirt lift up revealing his torso which is covered in an assortment of different coloured bruises and red and angry wounds._

"_Yes this really is a work of art," the cold voice said, "You have done me proud."_

_You can feel a cold hand wrap around your shoulder and give it a squeeze and you can't help but smile that you have made him so happy._

"_The question is," the voice continues, "Is why you haven't told us what we want to hear. I have asked nicely on more than one occasion and I will admit that when I got mad that I did let my apprentice have a little bit of fun with you but I think you would have to agree that Lord Voldemort is a patient man."_

_A little tremor ran down your spine when he said his name a mixture of excitement about the power he held and also a deep seeded fear because as long as you were by his side you could never completely relax. You were at his right hand, his go to and you had never felt more wanted or needed in your entire life. He had never lied to you and he was willing to let her explore the root of her power and was excited to watch her delve into that power. _

"_I will never tell you," the old man choked out his defiant eyes shining out in his broken body._

"_I am a patient man but even my patience has its limits," was the steely reply, "Would you like to do the honours?" he turned to face you, his snake like eyes gleaming with excitement. _

_His many followers feared you and hated you at the same time. They hated that he so willingly let you into his inner most circle and showed you a level of intimacy he had never shared with either of them. You were his most prized possession and he treated you accordingly and his Death Eaters resented you for it. You were the only one who was allowed to touch his wand and the fact that he let you use it both frightened them and filled them with a jealously they failed to keep hidden. _

_The wand he handed you felt right in your hand. You know you had been told that the wand chooses the owner and that no wand worked better than the wand that had chosen you but this one seemed to work perfectly for the both of you which had fascinated him to no end. _

"_You remember what I told you?" he asks rubbing his hands in anticipation._

_You nod and raise the wand to point it at the old man feeling the hair on the back of your neck prickle with excitement. You can feel the power rise through your body as you reach within the depths of its very core. You can see the fear in the old man's eyes and can't help but feel thrilled that you are the one to incite that fear. The spell rolls off your tongue like you have been saying it all of your life and you can sense the pride rolling off in waves from the man standing next to you as you speak and the old man's eyes widen in fear as green light fills the room._

"_Avada Kedavra."_

Faith woke with a start feeling the bile rise up in her throat. She choked down her nausea as she ran a shaky hand through her sweat soaked hair. The dream had felt so real as if she had been the one standing at Voldemort's side and she felt sick at the glee she had felt at holding his wand and being the one to kill that man.

She looked over to see if Buffy was having the same dream thinking that maybe it had been a Slayer dream but the blonde slept on peacefully. Faith was used to nightmares as the horrors from her past always seemed to revisit her at night but this had been a different sort of nightmare. It had felt like a premonition, different to a Slayer dream which were usually cryptic and confusing. This had felt real, like she was playing herself in a movie, one where she didn't like the outcome. She had often scared herself with how she lost herself when she was slaying and she knew Buffy worried about the intensity in which she sometimes beat on the vampires they were slaying. The blonde had mentioned this the very first time they had gone on patrol together but Faith had always shaken it off as the Slayer inside of her coming out to have some fun. She did get off on the violence she inflicted on those she was slaying, but they were evil creatures who she was born to kill. That old man had been human and she had excited in killing him.

That was what had frightened her the most. Not the fact that she had somehow become Lord Voldemort's apprentice but the fact that she had been proud to show him that she could kill and that she was happy to do so. She couldn't tell anyone about the dream, they hardly knew her and she was sure they wouldn't take kindly to the fact she was dreaming about becoming his most loyal follower. Not only were they all banded together to fight the one she had in the dream aligned herself so eagerly alongside he had killed Harry's parents in cold blood and even tried to kill Harry himself. She couldn't tell Buffy when the blonde Slayer was already a little wary of her eagerness to inflict violence. They were stuck in this place together for who knew how long and the last thing she wanted was for Buffy to be suspicious of her.

It could of course just have been a dream and mean nothing but Faith had come to trust her instincts and they were telling her something wasn't right. She had no reason to go out and become a loyal follower of Voldemort, in fact she couldn't think of anything worse but the dream had given her reason to start doubting herself and that was the most dangerous thing of all. She found it hard to trust anyone and had relied on herself for so long that if she started doubting herself she really would be alone. It may have just been a one time thing, just her subconscious playing on all the fears she kept buried deep down inside about how she really was the bad girl her mother had always told her she was. That maybe she did like the violence a little too much and that she was capable of hurting someone. Those were the fears that she had told nobody, not even her first Watcher who she had come to trust with her life.

She knew that sleep wouldn't find her again that night, her mind was too busy replaying the dream over and over and trying to convince herself of the fact that she would never do that. She kept seeing the gleeful pride in Voldemort's eyes as he handed her his wand and kept feeling his cold hand patting her shoulder with affection. By the time the early light of dawn began to lighten up the room she had managed to convince herself that the dream meant nothing and that it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

She distracted herself by listening to Buffy's deep and even breaths and watching as the sunlight began to bounce off of Buffy's long blonde hair as the sun rose higher in the sky. Back in Sunnydale they weren't really that close but Faith had always wished that someday they would be and she hoped that maybe this would give her the opportunity to become more than just a slaying partner to Buffy. She would never admit it to any of them but she desired so badly to be let in to the Scoobies inner circle that it always cut her to the very core when they left her out. She knew they didn't do it on purpose but it still always hurt when Buffy turned her down because she had plans with the gang and didn't feel the need to extend the invitation to her.

She could hear the rest of the house waking up but decided she wasn't quite comfortable enough with them yet to venture downstairs without Buffy so she lay on her back waiting for the blonde to wake up. In what felt like hours later Buffy finally began to stir and Faith looked over at her when she heard the blonde give a huge yawn.

"Morning," Buffy said rubbing her eyes.

"Morning," Faith replied.

"You sleep alright?" Buffy asked.

Faith hesitated before answering. A part of her did want to tell Buffy about her dream only so she could share it with someone and have Buffy refute that it would ever happen. But the part of her that feared that Buffy would agree that she was capable of doing something like that held her back so she replied with a simple nod of the head.

"This is all so surreal huh, I mean we wake up and we're in Englad in a freaking castle and then we pop through the air and end up here where some Merlin looking guy tells us that he spoke to Giles who knows we're here because we have to help out with some prophecy," Buffy said stretching, "Sometimes I feel like this is all a dream and I'm going to wake up back in LA and find out that none of this has really happened. Do you ever feel like that?"

"Yeah I guess," Faith replied, "When my first Watcher found me it all seemed a little too good to be true, roof over my head and three meals a day but in the end I decided if it really was a dream that I better enjoy it while it lasts because pretty soon I'd wake up and it wouldn't be so good. Haven't woken up yet so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that it's the real fucking deal."

She had never really shared all that much about her past with Buffy or anyone for that matter but it did feel good to tell her some things even if she was being a little vague. She knew the blonde had an idea that her early life hadn't been all too pleasant but Buffy had never pushed her to tell her anything whether that was because she didn't really care Faith wasn't sure but she was grateful of the fact that she hadn't felt pressured into talking. She liked to share of her own accord and when the time came she would do so but at the moment she was happy only sharing bits and pieces when she felt fit. For her part Buffy recognised that she didn't want to go into any further detail about what she had hinted at so she continued without mentioning it.

"What do you think we're going to do today? I mean is it a hunt him down kind of deal or what?" she asked.

"I don't know they weren't really clear," Faith sighed rubbing her tired eyes, "I'm not really sit on my ass twiddling my thumbs girl but the thought of hunting that dude down kind of makes me say no thanks."

"Right there with ya on that one," Buffy said sitting up, "But we were bought here for a reason and I think we do have an obligation to help these people if we can."

"I know and I'm all for helping them," Faith said sitting up as well, "I guess I still kind of can't believe we're here. I mean all of the things we saw yesterday were wicked cool but still kind of unbelievable."

"I'm pretty sure I saw a leprechaun in their garden and Giles specifically told me there was no such thing," Buffy shuddered.

"Leprechauns B, really," Faith raised an amused eyebrow.

"Short things give me the wiggins," Buffy shrugged to which Faith burst out laughing earning her a punch to the shoulder.

"I'm sorry B but short things, have you looked in the mirror lately Twinkie?" she laughed holding her sides.

"For your information I am well over five foot earning me the status of not legally dwarfed thank you very much," Buffy folded her arms across her chest indignantly, "And you're one to talk you're like three centimetres taller than me at most."

"Yeah but those three make all the difference Blondie," Faith teased.

"Whatever," Buffy pouted, "You think they have breakfast yumminess down there?"

"I hope so I'm fucking starving," Faith said as her stomach rumbled to illustrate her point.

"You ready to venture down then?" Buffy asked running a hand through her hair to try and get rid of the tangles.

"Yeah, let's go see what breakfast is like in a wizard's house."


	6. Show me the Money!

**A/N:** I have just realised that I made a huge mistake regarding the timeline because Sirius should not be alive in the timeline this is meant to be in so I guess for the purposes of this story he will have to be alive. I realise this massively changes the HP plot line but I'm going to make it work.

**Chapter Six: Show me the Money!**

It turned out the breakfast was a very similar affair to dinner with the small kitchen full to the brim with various members of the Order and enchanted breakfast foods spilling off the overcrowded table. Mrs Weasley was in a little bit of a tizz because Fred and George had accidentally set off a few of their firecrackers and the scrambled eggs had ended up sprayed all over the ceiling. She had just finished yelling at them when Tonks and a man with shaggy brown hair entered through the front door.

As soon as they stepped in the room Buffy felt the hair on the back of her neck prick up and her hand immediately went to her sleeve where if she had been at home and not wearing her yummy sushi pyjamas a stake would have been hidden. Beside her she felt Faith shift to reach down to her ankle where she would usually have kept her stake hidden.

"Tonks I know you don't know me very well so you really don't have many reasons to trust me but it's probably best if you do at this point even though I have done nothing besides pretty much showing up out of thin air to make you think that I'm of the trusting variety but I think you should because...," she babbled.

"What B is trying to say is is to step the fuck away from that dude because he ain't someone who plays well with humans," Faith cut the other Slayer off.

"It's okay girls," Sirius said going to stand next to the man who had entered with Tonks, "This is Remus Lupin, he's a member of the Order."

"Remus is a werewolf," Tonks said almost proudly, "And he has the full support of everyone here."

"I promise you I would never hurt anyone," Lupin told them earnestly.

"So you're tame?" Faith asked cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Not tame per say but I have no interest in harming any human or beast who fights on the side of good," Lupin said taking the plate piled high with food that Mrs Weasley offered him and squeezed in next to Harry and Hermione.

"He really is less harmful than an oversized puppy," Sirius said.

"I resent that Padfoot," Lupin replied, "And if anyone should be being called an oversized puppy I really doubt that it is me."

"Padfoot?" Buffy whispered to Ron who sat beside her.

"Sirius is an Animagus," Ron told her, "When he changes he takes the form of a big black dog."

"You both house trained?" Faith asked earning her a hit to the stomach from Buffy.

Ginny snorted into her hot chocolate and tried to hide her snickering unsuccessfully behind her mug.

"We certainly haven't had to clean up any messes on the rug," Mrs Weasley said with an amused smirk of her own.

"We got an owl from Albus this morning," Mr Weasley said once everyone had settled down, "It seems your friend Mr Giles has sent through some money so you can go and buy any supplies you may need while you are here."

"Giles is voluntarily giving us money," Buffy said incredulously, "This must be a pretty apocalyspey type situation."

"What sort of supplies do we need?" Faith asked around a mouthful of bacon.

"Well you'll need some clothes so we'll be heading to Muggle London for those," Tonks said, "And you'll also need a wand each."

"We get a wand?" Faith asked, "That's wicked cool."

"But why?" Buffy asked a little bit hesitant despite her counterpart's enthusiasm, "Can we even use them, w-we're not witches."

"Dumbledore believes that the power of the Slayer within each of you will speak to the magic of the wand," Mr Weasley told them.

"I guess it would help if we were able to do magic," Buffy supposed.

"Especially since that Snape jackass was able to wave his wand and make me all unconscious and shit," Faith griped obviously still bitter.

"You know, I think you and I are going to be on pretty well," Harry said raising his mug to her at her statements about Snape.

"Harry's always had a thing against Snape," Hermione explained.

"Well how can you not, the man is the biggest git out," Ron said.

"Ronald, you will not speak that way about Severus, Dumbledore trusts him so so should you," Mrs Weasley admonished her youngest son.

"Sorry Mum," Ron said the tips of his ears reddening in embarrassment at being told off in front of so many people.

"I assure you Faith that Snape while comes off like a git is really on or side," Mr Weasley said.

"Yeah well we'll see," Faith grumbled.

By the time breakfast was over and everyone had finished fighting for time in the shower the sun was high in the sky. Buffy and Faith dressed in the same clothes Dumbledore had conjured up for them yesterday were ready to head into London to buy some more after Hermione had explained that witches and wizards couldn't always just conjure clothes when they wanted.

"Dumbledore is always the exception," she had said with a smile.

"Harry is sulking upstairs because Sirius won't let him come with us," Hermione said as the three girls waited to go.

"Why can't he come?" Buffy asked.

"He is number one on Voldemort's 'To Kill' list," Hermione said, "It's not really safe for him to be wandering around, not when there are people out there looking for him."

"What about Rusty, is he joining us?" Faith asked using the nickname she had started using for Ron.

"No," Hermione said with a little bit of disappointment, "He hates shopping."

In the short amount of time they had been there both Buffy and Faith had noticed a mutual attraction between the young witch and wizard. From what they could tell both were simply to unsure of each other's feelings to make a move and so for the moment were operating as just friends much to both of their obvious disappointment.

"Who else is coming with us?" Faith asked itching at her arm over her leather jacket.

"Tonks," Hermione said, "She's an Auror so we'll be safe with her."

"Are we likely to get attacked," Buffy asked unconsciously touching the broken off chair leg she had shoved up her jacket sleeve. The first thing both Slayers had done after their showers was to fashion stakes after the broken stool that had been in the corner of their room. They both felt much more comfortable with their weapons of choice on their body even though when faced with a dark witch or wizard they wouldn't do much good.

"I bet getting a stake thrown through your arm would still hurt like a bitch even if you are the baddest of bad wizards," Faith had said when Buffy had voiced her concern.

"Probably not," Hermione shrugged, "But Death Eaters are out and about causing trouble so we can never be too careful."

"Come on B, when has a threat of death ever stopped you from shopping for clothes," Faith teased socking the other girl on the shoulder.

"You ready to go girls?" Tonks asked brightly appearing through the door with a new brown hairstyle, "I'm going for inconspicuous," she said off Hermione's questioning look.

"Are we doing that disappearing thing again 'cause I gotta tell you I enjoyed my breakfast and I don't want to see it reappear," Faith said.

"No we won't be disapparating," Tonks smirked, "This house is actually just on the outskirts of central London so it's only a couple minutes walk."

"Faith's breakfast and I thank you for that," Buffy crinkled her nose.

"Don't worry you get used to it after you do it a couple of times," Tonks told them.

"Well I for one am excited to go and spend Giles' hard earned money," Buffy said.

"Hermione do you have your wand?" Tonks asked.

"Right here," the younger witch nodded patting the front of her jacket.

"Make sure it's in reach, just in case," Tonks said giving the two Slayers an enthusiastic smile, "We ready?"

As they chatted amongst themselves walking into town Buffy noticed more and more the similarities between Hermione and Willow. Both were excited beyond belief at the prospect of learning, especially learning more about magic and as Hermione chatted happily away about all the spells she could teach them Buffy couldn't help the pang of homesickness she felt as she thought about her friends and family back home. She would call home but last night Mad Eye had explained that the less her friends and family knew about where she was the safer they would be so she would just have to be happy hoping that Giles had at least assured them they were safe.

Faith was walking a little way ahead of them kicking a stone along the footpath. The dark Slayer's hands were stuffed in her jacket pockets and her hair was blowing slightly in the wind. Buffy smiled to herself as Faith cursed after missing the stone and kicking her toe into the cement. Faith was obviously off in her own little world as she found a new stone to kick and Buffy didn't want to disturb her so she fell into step beside Hermione.

"I would never have guessed I'd be going clothes shopping in London," she said excitedly.

"Oh it's brilliant you'll love it," Hermione said brightly, "And they also have the best book shops hidden down these side alleys and you really have to hunt to find them. Last time we went Ron bought me the most delightful book of Shakespeare's transcripts. Of course he has no idea who Shakespeare even was but I was so excited when we saw it that he said he just had to buy it for me."

"You and Ron, I'm not imagining the mutual wanting of smoochies am I?" Buffy asked.

"Well I d-don't know if it's mutual," Hermione blushed.

"Come on Hermione it's definitely mutual," Buffy chuckled, "Ron couldn't be more into you if he wore a sign confessing his love."

"You think?" Hermione asked excitedly, "He's kind of mean to me."

"That's what boys do," Buffy sighed exasperatedly, "Something in their brain makes them think if they're mean to us it'll make us like them even more. Ron is like a preschooler who pushes you over in the playground, it means he likes you."

"Definitely," Tonks joined in, "When Remus and I first realised we liked each other he practically ignored me."

"And that let you know he liked you?" Hermione asked.

"Duh," Buffy said, "Boys are stupid and the quicker you learn that the sooner you will come to recognise the stupid little games they play."

"What about you?" Hermione asked, "Is there someone special at home waiting for you?"

Buffy bit her lip guiltily as she suddenly realised that this was the first time she had even thought about Angel since she and Faith had turned up at Hogwarts. True she had had a lot on her mind with the discovery of this whole new community within their own but she had spared thoughts for her mother and her friends but somehow had neglected to think of the souled vampire she had fought so hard to hide when he returned. His reappearance was out in the open now and they were trying to keep their relationship as normal as possible for a couple who couldn't truly show the depth of their feelings for fearing one of them might turn into a soulless monster.

"I kind of have someone," Buffy said lamely not even sure how she could classify the relationship she had with him.

"Kind of?" Hermione asked.

"It's hard to explain," Buffy supplied, "We're together but we're not."

"How does that work?" Hermione asked.

"If I knew I would tell you," Buffy sighed suddenly feeling weighed down by thoughts of her strange relationship with Angel. Deep down she knew that they couldn't last as they had no future together. He was a vampire and she was a Slayer, and one who enjoyed going out into the sunshine. She wanted it all, the house, the kids, the puppy who you claim you hate having in the house but still sleeps on your bed anyway and he couldn't offer her any of that.

"I don't have a fucking clue where to go," Faith grumbled as they reached the end of the street.

"There's no need to be a grouch about it," Buffy crinkled her eyebrows in confusion at the other girl's obvious bad mood.

"Sorry," Faith said running a hand through her hair, "Guess I'm just tired."

"It's okay we're all entitled to our days," Tonks said brightly, "We're nearly there it's just across this next street and down a little way."

They shopped for over two hours and Buffy and Faith picked up some clothes that they could wear while they stayed in London. Faith seemed to be done fairly quickly, happy with an assortment of dark coloured long sleeved shirts, a few pairs of jeans and a pair of thick soled boots, but Buffy took her time exploring the assortment of boutiques and outlets they found lining the streets to her delight. The brunette Slayer was currently sitting on a chair outside the fitting rooms while Tonks and Hermione commented on the outfit Buffy was trying on. Buffy had noticed that Faith's mood had seemed to deteriorate during the trip and she made a mental note to ask the other girl what was wrong.

"What do you say we head to Diagon Alley and pick up your wands?" Tonks asked as they stepped out of the last shop.

They walked further down the street and headed into a grungy looking pub that stood on the corner of the street. The sign hanging over the door said the Leaky Cauldron and as soon as they stepped inside Buffy could tell that this was no ordinary pub. The place was dark but filled with the chatter of people dressed in robes similar to the ones Snape had been wearing so she guessed they must be witches and wizards. An assortment of owls sat along the wooden beams that ran across the ceilings and Buffy did a double take when she saw someone appear from a green puff of smoke in the fireplace.

"Did you see that?" Faith asked as they pushed their way through the crowded room.

"The lady who did the appearing act?"

"No, the lady who appeared out of the fire...wait, what?" Faith stopped.

"I think it's fair to say both of our minds are again being boggled," Buffy said throwing her arm casually around the other girl's shoulders and steering her away from the bar to which she seemed to naturally gravitate towards and over to where Hermione was beckoning them, "Again you're not eighteen and I'm the older Slayer so I'm the boss and I say no drinking for Faith."

"Anyone ever tell you you're kind of a wet blanket?"

"I happen to know I'm the life of the party, but that's when the party is at an appropriate hour and not when someone has just said to you I think it's time we went and got your wands because usually when someone is saying that to you it means you've done way too much partying already because that doesn't make sense."

"Wow, babble much B," Faith snorted.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm channelling my inner Willow or something 'cause she's not here and I'm used to a certain amount of babbling," Buffy shrugged.

"Missing the super friends then?" Faith asked as they finally got through the crowd to where Tonks and Hermione stood.

"I just wish I could talk to them and Mom and let them know what's going on," Buffy sighed taking her arm from around Faith's shoulders to hold the door open for Hermione and Faith to walk through after Tonks.

"I'm sure the G Man has let them know what they need to so they're not in freak central," Faith said.

"I guess," Buffy said, "I'm glad you're here though, I think I would be having colossal sized wiggins if I ended up here on my own."

"Gee thanks B I'm flattered," Faith smirked ducking out of the way of the other girl's hand, "But it is good to have a familiar face around I guess."

They stepped out the back of the building and were faced with a brick wall that stretched all the way to the ceiling. Tonks pulled out her wand and counted three bricks up and two across three times until she found the spot she was looking for. She tapped her wand on the brick and Buffy and Faith watched in amazement as the brick wall seemed to shift and change until an archway appeared. Tonks held out her arm and ushered them through smiling at their astonished faces.

"Buffy, Faith, welcome to Diagon Alley."


	7. I'll have what she's having

**Chapter Seven: I'll have what she's having**

The street that was revealed through the opening in the brick wall gave the impression that it had once been a vibrant hug of activity. The signs that hung over the shop fronts swung eerily as if a huge group of passersby had just left the store. Some shops were still open but many were deserted and their front windows had been smashed and destroyed. It felt like walking into a ghost town and the small amount of people that were there walked quickly down the street with their heads down.

"Wow this place is...," Buffy started.

"Fucking eerie," Faith supplied.

"I was going to go with creepy but we'll stick with yours," Buffy said.

"It didn't used to be like this," Hermione said sadly.

"Now that You Know Who is back the Death Eaters have been causing trouble and trying to make a statement. Most witches and wizards try to steer clear of places like this out of fear," Tonks said as they walked down the street.

"So we're here because?" Faith asked peering into a burned out shop front.

"Ollivander's is one of the few stores still in business," Tonks said, "And he's the best when it comes to wands."

"Still can't believe we're getting wands," Buffy said, "Six year old Buffy would be so excited about this."

"Seventeen year old Buffy is pretty excited too," Faith teased.

"Yeah well I bet...wait, how old are you anyway?" Buffy asked stunned when she realised she didn't know Faith's age.

"You never ask a girl how old they are B, it's like simple manners or something," Faith laughed.

"Wait, I thought you two were friends, "Hermione said sounding confused, "And you don't even know how old she is."

Buffy flushed suddenly ashamed when she realised how little she knew about the other Slayer. Faith didn't really like to share but she hadn't exactly been asking all too many questions of the Bostonian. The most she had ever learnt about Faith was in the first week she had come to town and they had fought Kakistos and even then Buffy thought sadly, she hadn't stuck around long enough afterwards to make sure Faith was alright. She was suddenly so overcome with feelings of guilt that she was sure she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

"It's alright 'Mione," Faith said slinging her arm around the witches shoulder's, "I'm all mysterious and shit, like to keep people guessing, it keeps them on their toes."

Buffy fell behind after that wishing that the ground would swallow her whole. She was a horrible person, that was the only explanation. Faith had been living in Sunnydale for over a month and Buffy hadn't even known her last name until Dumbledore had addressed her by it when they arrived at Hogwarts. A total stranger had known more about Faith then she had and that thought made her feel so incredibly sad. Her attention was drawn to the other Slayer when Faith's throaty laughter interrupted her miserable thoughts and she looked over to see the Bostonian laughing at something Tonks had just pointed out to her.

"B you gotta come see this, there's a place called TerrorTours where you can actually pay for a vacation to a vampire's castle," Faith laughed, "Bet your clients getting killed really puts a dampener on business."

"Actually before you go you have to sign something that says you won't hold the company accountable should you die or be horribly maimed," Tonks shrugged.

"Cheery," Faith chuckled, "Bet me and B going on one of these trips would be bad for business too."

"Well you'd probably slay all their business partners so you'd ruin the trip for everyone else," Hermione said.

"You didn't say nothin' about there being a don't kill the host part of the contract," Faith said wiggling her eyebrows and then frowning when she realised Buffy wasn't joining in their fun.

Buffy could tell that Faith wanted to ask her what was wrong but she didn't think she would be able to tell the other Slayer exactly how she felt without making them both feel worse. She wasn't sure that Faith was even upset at how little she had tried to get to know her, for all she knew it was the way Faith wanted it but sometimes she felt like she could see through the bravado the other girl put up and underneath there was a lonely girl. Whenever she caught a glimpse however Faith's mask always returned as quickly as it disappeared and she would forget because Faith would say something insulting or blurt out some innuendo and make her forget. In some selfish way Buffy almost didn't want to know more about the Bostonian as she was sure most of the story wouldn't be pretty and she didn't know how she was meant to deal with that.

"You okay B?" Faith asked her quietly.

Buffy was saved from lying to her when Hermione pronounced they had arrived at Ollivander's. The front of the store was old and weathered and the peeling gold letters above the door proclaimed it Ollivanders: Makers of fine wands since 382 BC. In the front store window sat a solitary purple cushion on which a single wand sat. The two Slayers looked at the wand in fascination as they walked into the small room that consisted of a single chair and shelves and shelves and thousands of long thin boxes. The shop was darkly lit and Faith flopped heavily into the chair, sneezing as dust particles flew up around her.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander are you here?" Tonks called out.

They heard a shuffling from somewhere in the stacks before a man appeared sliding along on a ladder, his white hair standing out shockingly against the dim shop lights. His body was old but his blue eyes were bright and sharp and took them all in keenly.

"So it's true then," he said looking intently at Buffy and Faith, "You really have come."

"Creepily intuitive as always," Tonks smiled friendlily.

"So who would like to go first?" Mr. Ollivander asked, "Miss Summers?"

Again Buffy was surprised that someone who she didn't know seemed to know who she was but she stepped forward gingerly after Hermione gave her an encouraging nod. Faith had her arms crossed across her chest trying to look nonchalant but Buffy saw her shift so that she was sitting up with her back straight and she knew the other Slayer was apprehensive.

"I always wondered if I would see you in my shop," Mr. Ollivander said as he combed the shelves finally plucking out a thin box and placing it on the table, "When news of He Who Must Not be Named's return I had a feeling you would come."

"How did you know?" Buffy asked watching as he plucked a long thin wand out of the box.

"There are some things Miss Summers one can just feel," Ollivander said holding the wand out to her, "And your importance in the upcoming months was one of those things."

"Geez dude could you be any more vague," Faith snorted from the corner.

Buffy took the wand from him and held it in her hand looking at him expectantly.

"Well give it a wave," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh right sorry," Buffy replied.

She felt ridiculous waving her wand but did as he said squealing in surprise when the picture frame above the counter shattered and fell to the ground with a loud smash.

"Oh my god I am so sorry," she said hurriedly placing the wand back on the counter and stepping back quickly.

"No matter, no matter," Ollivander said heading back into the shelves, "The wand chooses the witch and wizard Miss Summers so we'll keep trying until we find the right one."

"But I'm not a witch," Buffy said to Hermione.

"It's alright, if Dumbledore believes you've got the power inside of you to operate under wandlore then you'll be fine," Hermione told her.

"Ah, how about this one," Ollivander said producing another wand for her to try, "Ten and a half inches, holly with a dragon's heartstring."

Buffy took the wand from him apprehensively and waved it.

"Motherfucker," Faith cried as the chair she was sitting in exploded and she fell in a heap to the ground.

"Faith!" Buffy cried rushing over to the fallen Slayer, "Are you alright? Oh my god I'm sorry."

"Jesus Christ B! The dude only has one chair in the whole shop and you gotta go and blow it up," Faith exclaimed letting the other Slayer help her up.

"I know, I'm so sorry Mr. Ollivander," Buffy said looking at the old man guiltily.

"It's not trouble Miss Summers," Ollivander said, "I assure you every inch of this shop has been destroyed and re-conjured. It is the nature of the business."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Buffy asked running her hands over Faith's arms looking for any injuries.

"I'm fine B but if you wanna keep touching me I'd be okay with that," Faith said wiggling her eyebrows. Buffy let go instantly as she felt herself flush and hurried to drop the wand back on the counter.

"Ah, give this one a go," Ollivander said, "Seven inches, ash, unicorn tail feather."

As soon as the wand touched her hand Buffy felt a warmth that seemed to spread from her very core all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. Holding that wand felt like coming home, like she was meant to be holding it and she knew instantly what Ollivander had meant when he said the wand chooses the wizard.

"Wow, I'll have what she's having," Faith said watching as Buffy seemed to slip into a momentary state of bliss.

"Very good, very good," Ollivander said cheerily as he took the wand back from Buffy and placed it back in it's box, "Your turn now Miss Lehane."

Faith pushed off the wall she had been leaning against and took Buffy's place just in front of the shop counter.

"I wonder," Mr Ollivander said muttering words he had said not years before, "It is a rare occasion when the beast I procure the wand core from should provide me with more than one sample. I can think of perhaps one other occasion when this has happened and I wonder if this is another."

The old man disappeared into the stacks leaving behind two confused Slayers and their companions. Faith looked back at Buffy and the blonde made herself smile encouragingly even though she was once again beginning to dwell on her earlier depressing thoughts. She was determined to find out as much as she could about the other Slayer, even if Faith didn't want to tell her.

"Here we go," Ollivander said returning and placing a dusty box on the counter, "Ten and a half inches, ebony with the tail hair of a unicorn. Give it a wave," he said handing the wand to Faith.

Buffy watched as Faith's whole body seemed to light up and a light breeze made the dark Slayer's hair blow around her head. Faith's eyes seemed to shine a little brighter and her face was serene as if she had just finished relaxing in a warm bath.

"I should have known," Ollivander said taking the wand back at placing it in it's box, "Two Slayers, an anomaly if I'm not mistaken and your wands, brother wands with tail hairs taken from the same unicorn."

"Like Harry's," Hermione whispered.

"Yes, quite right Miss Granger," Ollivander said, "I guess we can assume we can expect great things from you two as well."

"No pressure or anything," Faith muttered shoving her hands in her pockets.

They paid Mr. Ollivander quickly and headed back out into Diagon Alley. The sun was beginning to set and so they picked up their pace not wanting to get caught outside when it got dark. The two Slayers were quiet as they walked back to Headquarters and if Tonks or Hermione noticed neither said anything. Buffy stole glances at her sister Slayer as they waited for number twelve Grimmauld to appear. Faith appeared suddenly weary and her whole body seemed to sag as they waited for the rumbling of the building shifting to stop. Buffy wanted to ask her if she was alright but she knew as soon as they stepped inside they wouldn't get a moment to themselves until bed time so she decided to save all her questioning until then.

Once inside they were greeted by various members of the Order who had once again congregated for dinner. The meal was loud and rambunctious as always but Buffy found herself focusing all her attention on the Bostonian Slayer who sat opposite her wedged in between Harry and Ron. Faith didn't really touch her food, something which was completely out of character and she yawned frequently throughout the meal. Her concern only increased when Faith excused herself from the game of Exploding Snap they were all going to play after dinner and Buffy watched her head upstairs.

"Is she alright?" Harry asked obviously noting the concern on the blonde's face.

"I don't know. She seemed fine all afternoon," Buffy said.

"Maybe she's getting sick," Ron shrugged.

"Slayer's don't get sick," Buffy told him, "Or, we don't usually get sick."

"I'm sure she's fine," Hermione said kindly, "It must be kind of overwhelming to be brought here and told so much about magic, maybe it's all catching up to her."

"Yeah maybe," Buffy sighed, "Look I'm going to go check on her but deal me in and I'll be back down in a minute."

The door to their room was closed and Buffy knocked softly, entering slowly when she got no reply. Faith was sprawled out on her stomach and already fast asleep still dressed in the clothes she had been wearing all day. Buffy frowned as she sat down on her own mattress and stared at the other girl. She remembered Faith saying earlier in the day that she was tired but she still couldn't help but be a little worried. If Faith really was getting sick this so wasn't the time or place for it to happen, not when they were Watcherless and halfway around the world. Not being able to stop herself Buffy reached her hand over and let it hover over the other girl's face.

"What is going on with you?"


	8. Nobody puts 'Baby' in a corner

**Chapter Eight: Nobody puts 'Baby' in a corner**

Faith found herself watching the sun rise as the same dream she had had the previous night woke her up in a panic. She had long since pried herself away from her sweat soaked sheets and was sitting at the small window their room had so she could stare out at the dreary London street below. It was empty, except for a few stragglers who were stumbling home after a night at the pub and Faith suddenly found herself missing Sunnydale. She may have had no family or real friends there but at least she knew what she was dealing with. Here she felt like she was all alone, faced with people she didn't quite trust and stuck with another Slayer who she felt didn't trust her completely. When she had awoken with a strangled scream she had hoped that the sound would have woken the blonde next to her, at least then she could have maybe have told Buffy what was going on because the blonde would have discovered it for herself. She was sure Buffy would have poked and prodded until she gave in and told her about the dreams and it would have been okay that way because it wouldn't have been like she was asking for help if Buffy made her tell.

She felt tired right down to the bone but every time she closed her eyes she saw the terrified face of the old man as she raises her arm to kill him. The fear of killing another human would have scared almost anyone, but for someone who had been told almost their entire life that they were worthless and deficient, the fear of proving those predictions correct was enough to make her absolutely terrified.

Her body longed for the spongy purple mattress that she had vacated and she eventually gave in just when the sun was peaking over the horizon. She lay on her side so that she was facing her sister Slayer who looked so peaceful Faith was momentarily envious. Faith sort of hated how beautiful the other Slayer was because it made loving her that much harder. She had long since given in to the fact that she had feelings for the blonde who was completely unaware of how she felt and also as far as she was aware firmly in the loving of boys category. It was hard to just be around Buffy as every little half smile made her heart ache and yet at the same time she wouldn't want to be stuck here with anybody else.

Buffy's lips moved as she dreamt and Faith longed to reach out and stroke her fingertips over her smooth skin. After seeing the loving smiles Buffy shared with Angel she yearned to be on the receiving end. She placated herself with reaching her hand over and resting it on the other Slayer's mattress at least giving herself the semblance of closeness. Buffy's body heat had warmed the bedding and Faith let it seep into her fingertips. With her eyes trained on the slumbering Slayer's face and her hand reaching for nearness Faith felt her whole body relax and her eyelids drooped as much needed sleep took her over.

Both Slayers jerked awake several hours later when raised voices sounded from downstairs. Buffy stretched languorously as Faith groaned on the mattress beside her. They both sat up rubbing their eyes as the frantic voices downstairs grew louder and looked at each other in confusion before Buffy shrugged and padded over to the door and opened it wide enough so she could stick her head out and listen.

"What are they saying?" Faith asked.

"I can't make it out," Buffy said, "The down downstairs must be shut."

"Well let's go see then," Faith said hopping up from her bed and pushing past Buffy.

"Faith wait," Buffy said grabbing her arm, "If they closed the door it obviously means they don't want anyone hearing."

"They probably just don't want the kids to here," Faith said trying to pull away.

"The kids are not really kids," Buffy reasoned, "Ron told me that Harry's faced Voldemort more times than anyone and they had to fight off all these Death Eater's last year so I think they've seen a lot more than anyone here gives them credit for."

"Well we have a right to know what's going on," Faith said stubbornly, "They plucked us out of Sunnydale and just dumped us here and expect us to help so we fucking deserve to know."

Buffy sighed and dropped her hand because she knew Faith had a point. They were there to help and if anything they should be involved with every little thing that happens in regards to the Order if they were to have any chance in doing whatever it was they were bought here to do.

"Fine, but be stealthy at first we don't want to burst in and make everyone clam up," Buffy said.

"B, please stealth is my middle name," Faith winked.

"What is your middle name? For all I know it actually could be stealth which is a horrible thought because nobody's parent's would be that mean," Buffy stopped when she saw Faith's face drop momentarily before the other Slayer's usual devil may care expression returned, "Faith I'm sorry."

"For what? You ain't saying nothing that wasn't true," Faith shrugged, "Except the stealth middle name part, it's Elizabeth," she said and Buffy swore there was a pinkish tinge to her cheeks.

"Really, guess we have a few more things in common then," Buffy said, "For the life of me I can't understand why my Mom chose the nickname Buffy and I refuse to accept it was because she had a dog with that name."

"You're shittin' me right!" Faith laughed, "Your Mom named you after her dog!"

"She said it was cute," Buffy pouted, "But it's not so cute when you get your wisdom teeth out and everyone is calling you Puffy Buffy."

"So why didn't you just change it to Liz or Beth or somethin'?" Faith asked.

"Please, do I look like a Beth to you?" Buffy snorted, "Nope, I'm doomed to have a name that is the laughing stock of the demon and human world."

"And probably the animal," Faith mused, "Buffy is a pretty ridiculous name for a dog as well."

"Hey!" Buffy said punching Faith on the arm, "Watch who you're calling ridiculous."

"Fuck B are your fists made of concrete or something?" Faith grimaced rubbing the spot on her arm where Buffy had hit her.

"Shut up," Buffy said, "Come on we better hurry or we're going to miss all the good stuff."

The two Slayers walked quietly down the stairs cringing when Faith stepped on a creaky stair. They half expected someone to round the corner and scold them for sneaking around but no one came so they continued on until they were outside the door and the conversation could be made out. No one was shouting anymore but they could make out the sounds of someone groaning in pain. They both pressed their ears against the door so they could hear exactly what was being said.

"In this part of London, should we be worried?" they could hear Mrs. Weasley's worried voice through the door.

"Of course we should," Tonk's high pitched wail made Faith flinch, "Remus' leg has been torn into."

"I'm okay dear," they heard Lupin's gasped reply, "It'll heal nicely."

"But vampires in this corner of London, he must know we are here," Mr. Weasley said anxiously.

"He can't get in," Sirius reassured them, "Albus would never give us up, we all know that."

"So he's finally started recruiting the supernatural," they heard Kingsley sigh as Lupin growled in pain, "We knew he'd approached the giants but if he's getting vampires and demons it's going to be harder and harder for us to keep everyone safe."

"I thought that was what the Slayers are here for," Tonks' voice filtered through the door, "To kill those that can't be destroyed by magic."

"Perhaps, but we must keep them safe as well," Lupin gasped, "Dumbledore believes they are important so we do all that we can to keep them out of harm's way."

"They must fight," Moody's gruff voice interrupted, "There is no time to molly coddle anybody. This is war and in war there are casualties, the Slayers know that, they face death every day. They are not afraid, they are here to fight so they must fight."

"They're just children Alastair!" Mrs. Weasley cried, "We can't just send them off to fight vampires and demons."

"We have to," Sirius said quietly so that Buffy and Faith had to strain to hear, "It is their destiny."

"It's not right," Mrs. Weasley said sounding on the verge of tears.

"It's not," Mr. Weasley said comfortingly, "But they must."

"We can do it," Faith said opening the door and stepping into the room before Buffy even knew what was happening, "Me and B we do this sort of thing every day. If something needs killin' we're the ones for the job."

"She's not lying," Buffy said feeling her face flaming as all the adults stared at them, "We've killed more vampires than Hermione has read books. If they're here then we're meant to fight them."

"Buffy dear I know you two are eager to help but this is far too dangerous," Mrs. Weasley said coming to stand next to her. Buffy could see the worry lines deeply etched around her eyes.

"It's dangerous but we know what we're doing," Buffy assured her, "I know you want to help us learn magic and we will do that too but slaying is what we were built for."

"We kick vamp ass like nobody's business," Faith nodded excitedly at the prospect of a good slay.

"What she said," Buffy nodded.

"They were brought here for a reason Molly," Mr. Weasley tried to reason with his wife, "They may be the only ones who can help us with the vampires."

"And we won't let the fuckers hurt anyone else," Faith said peering over at Lupin whose leg had been sliced open and brutal looking puncture wounds littered around the laceration.

"What happened?" Buffy asked screwing up her face as Tonks put some sort of lotion on the werewolf's injury.

"Kingsley and I were on our way here when we were attacked only a couple of streets up from here," Lupin told them.

"We were outnumbered and our magic does nothing against this breed of vampire," Kingsley said, "We did what we could but they overpowered us."

"If it weren't for Kingsley's quick thinking we would have been dead," Lupin said wincing.

"I created a Patronus which thankfully distracted them long enough for us to get away," Kingsley told them.

"A Patronus?" Buffy asked.

"It's like a protection charm; it takes the form of a particular animal and drives away Demontors which are guards at our wizarding prison Azkaban," Sirius explained.

"So it's settled me and B are going to patrol tonight," Faith said practically bouncing with excitement. They all looked at Mrs. Weasley expectantly until the redheaded woman threw up her hands in resignation.

"Fine, but you are taking Sirius with you," Mrs. Weasley said before stalking out of the room muttering something about breakfast.

"Don't worry girls she'll come around," Mr. Weasley said smiling warmly.

"No she won't," Sirius and Lupin said at the same time making them all laugh.

"Wait a minute, Sirius I thought you couldn't be seen by anybody," Buffy said.

"That's the brilliant thing," Sirius said, "In my Animagus form no one will know it is me and I will be more helpful in a fight when I'm a dog since magic won't work."

"Alright!" Faith said giving him an enthusiastic high five, "Sure gives a new meaning to the Scooby Gang huh B."

"We've never had an actual Scooby before," Buffy smiled shaking her head at the other Slayer's excitement. She never felt the passion that Faith felt for slaying but she felt a strange warmth at seeing the other girl's smile.

"It's settled then," Tonks said clasping her hands together, "You two are finally going to start earning your keep around here," she winked.

"Speaking of keep," Mrs. Weasley said poking her head through the door, "Faith do you think you could come and help me with breakfast?"

"Uh sure," Faith said looking over at Buffy who gave her a small nod, "But I'm not much of a cook, unless you're plannin' on heating something up in a can then I'm your girl."

"It's okay I just wanted to talk to you about something," Mrs. Weasley said, "Don't look so scared it's nothing bad," she said off Faith's expression, "Come on."


	9. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to ta

**Chapter Nine: I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore**

As Faith followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen she couldn't help but feel like a little kid who had been caught stealing from the neighbours. She couldn't think of anything that she had done wrong but Mrs. Weasley's tone made it sound like it was something important and no adult had ever really wanted to talk to her unless they wanted something from her or wanted to tell her off. Even as much as she liked Buffy's mother there was always this feeling that while she cared for Faith she was also deep down hoping that Faith would take over the slaying duties from her daughter.

"Before we start cooking we'll have to clean up this mess Fred and George left from a late night snack," Mrs. Weasley said to the brunette Slayer.

When they reached the kitchen sink which was now piled high with dirty dishes Faith was handed a dish towel which she looked at in confusion.

"You can't just wave your wand and clean 'em?" she asked as Mrs. Weasley turned on the tap.

"Sometimes I find washing dishing manually helps me sort through things in my head," Mrs. Weasley said picking up a scrubbing brush.

"Oh," Faith said taking the first plate handed to her.

They worked in silence for awhile and Faith began to feel uneasy as she waited for Mrs. Weasley to start talking about whatever it was she wanted to say. With each scrape of the scrubbing brush the hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she found herself glancing over at the redheaded woman nervously.

"You know with seven children I've gotten pretty good at knowing when someone is hiding something," the older woman said turning on the tap to add more hot water to the sink.

"That must come in handy," Faith said concentrating intently on the bowl she was drying.

"It does and all my children know that if something is bothering them that they can come and tell me anything," Mrs. Weasley said, "I also pride myself on being good at reading people."

"Cool," Faith said tensing when she felt the older woman's gaze turn on her.

"You're not okay," Mrs. Weasley said simply, "And before you tell me you're fine I want you to know that anything you tell me will stay between us, and that I walked past your room late last night."

The older witch started scrubbing the dishes again as Faith closed her eyes. She hated showing weakness to anybody and this woman was basically calling her out on it. Nobody since her first Watcher had ever gotten close enough to be able to read her well enough to actually see behind the defences she put up. Faith knew she was slow to trust but she counted it as a smart move to not open herself up enough for anybody to gain information that could be used against her so she figured that she would give Mrs. Weasley just enough to keep the woman satisfied without giving everything away.

"I have nightmares," she said simply, "Slayer dreams, Buffy and I get them, sort of comes with our line of work. They don't mean nothin'."

"I've also got quite a way of telling when somebody is lying," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'm not lying," Faith said although even to her own ears she sounded unconvincing.

"Sweetheart I know you don't know be very well and I know you've had a tough time of it," Mrs. Weasley said holding up her hand when Faith started to interrupt her, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I want you to know that I want to help you and I know you've probably been told this by people before who haven't followed through with their promises but I'm not one of those people. Ask anyone one of my kids and they'll tell you that I follow through on my promises. In fact make sure you ask Ron about the time I promised to make him degnown the garden wandless and he'll tell you I keep my promises."

Faith wanted to believe her but years of broken promises made her wary of believing anything that was promised to her. Mrs. Weasley was warm and obviously loved her children but she couldn't make herself open up to her, at least not yet.

"Buffy was worried about you," Mrs. Weasley said quietly, "Last night after you went to bed she checked on you several times because she wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Really?" Faith asked before cursing herself for the hopeful tone which tinged her voice, "I mean B is pretty much a worrier so that doesn't mean all that much."

"She obviously cares about you," Mrs. Weasley said.

"She cares about a lot of people," Faith shrugged although she couldn't help the surge of excitement that ran through her.

"Not like how she cares about you," Mrs. Weasley said,, "I don't even know if she realises how deeply she cares but you should hold onto that, even if she doesn't show it sometimes it's obvious to outsiders that you are very special to her."

Faith didn't know what to say. Her throat felt dry and she coughed to try and clear it. Mrs. Weasley had basically just told her everything she had ever wanted to hear and her whole body felt like it was tingling with pleasure. She had convinced herself that nothing would ever happen between the two of them but if Mrs. Weasley had noticed something between them after knowing them for only a couple of days then maybe something could happen. In Sunnydale there were so many things working against them; Buffy's friends for one and Angel she suddenly remembered feeling her heart drop.

"She has a boyfriend," she blurted out suddenly feeling her cheeks flush as she inadvertently revealed her feelings.

"Faith," Mrs. Weasley said putting her hand on the younger girl's back, "You two have come here and told us that where there has only ever been one there is now two. If that doesn't spell out meant to be I don't know what does."

For someone who had come to expect very little from life Faith always found it hard to believe when something sounded too good to be true because in her experience more often than not it tended to be so she tried not to take Mrs. Weasley's words too seriously. They continued cleaning in silence as Faith let the older woman's words reverberate around her head. With the strong British accent and the take no nonsense attitude she did remind her of her first Watcher who had given Faith plenty of reasons to trust her. She found herself staring at the older woman intently as she washed the last of the pan and was suddenly overcome with the need to tell someone something after hiding so much of herself for so long.

"I do have nightmares," she said softly looking at her hands, "But not the Slayer kind like B gets."

"Is that what I heard last night?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I dunno," Faith shrugged, "Maybe, but I-I've been having different ones since I've been here."

"Different how?"

"I think they're of him," she said so quietly she wasn't even sure she had said it out loud.

"Him?" Mrs. Weasley asked handing her the last plate.

"Voldemort."

"Are you sure?"

"No, b-but I think it is. In the dreams I-I'm with him and we do horrible things to people," she said.

"Is this why you were so tired yesterday?"

"It comes over me. I was fine and then suddenly I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open," Faith said scratching at her tattoo, "Fucking weird feeling too."

"It of course may be nothing," Mrs. Weasley said kindly, "Just your subconscious dealing with all the new information you have learnt over the last couple of days, but it could be something and I would like, with your permission to speak to Dumbledore about it."

"No!" Faith all but yelled, "Just not yet. It could be nothin' like you said so don't go telling anyone till we know."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Weasley asked, the lines between her eyes deepening.

"I've dealt with enough shit on my own," Faith said defiantly feeling the need to shut herself up now that she had told someone the truth, "They're nothin'."

Mrs. Weasley sighed with the teenager's sudden change of mood but she didn't want to scare her off so she nodded in agreement, "If you're sure but you must promise me something as well. If I'm to tell no one about these dreams I want you to make sure you tell me when you have them or if that feeling of sudden tiredness overcomes you again. Can you promise me that?"

"I guess."

"And Faith, I think you should think about telling Buffy about your dreams."

"No way," Faith said quickly, "B thinks I'm screwed up enough as it is, don't wanna give her any more reasons to think I'm fucked in the head."

"Just think about it," Mrs. Weasley said pulling her in for a quick hug before she could protest, "You might feel better about them if you can talk to her about it," she said ushering her towards the door.

"I thought I was going to help you with breakfast," Faith said in confusion.

"Faith dear, the minute I let anyone help me with my cooking is the minute I let Fred and George try their new Exploding Pizzwangs in my living room."

Faith chuckled as she was pushed out the kitchen door but stopped suddenly holding the door open, "Thanks," she said softly, "It did feel good to tell somebody."

"Anytime dear," Mrs. Weasley said kindly, "And remember our promise."

"I will."

She was sort of surprised that Buffy wasn't pressed up against the door listening in to their conversation but she concentrated on their Slayer connection and eventually found the other Slayer in the living room with Hermione.

"Faith," Hermione said excitedly when she spotted the brunette girl, "Buffy has already gotten the hang of a spell."

"I haven't got the hang of it," Buffy flushed, "But I can say it properly."

"It took Ron three weeks to be able to do that," Hermione said happily, "He'll be right upset when he finds this out."

"Where are the boys?" Faith asked plopping herself down on the couch next to the blonde Slayer.

"Fred and George are showing them some of their new creations up in their room," Hermione said, "But I'm going to bring them down so Buffy can show them her spell casting," she skipped off happily before Buffy could protest.

"What did Mrs. Weasley want to talk to you about?" Buffy asked twirling her wand in her hand.

"Nothing, just wanted to make sure I was handling the cold weather alright," Faith shrugged.

Buffy looked unconvinced but she didn't say anything, staring into Faith's eyes before looking away.

"Are you feeling better?" the blonde asked.

"Didn't know I was sick."

"Last night, I was worried and Ron thought you might be getting sick," Buffy said.

"I'm not sick B," Faith said, "Was just tired is all."

"Are you sure? I'm not gonna have to be nurse Buffy or anything am I?"

"B you can be nurse Buffy to me anytime you like," Faith smirked.

"I don't know why I make it so easy for you to do that," Buffy shook her head.

"You know you love it," Faith chuckled, "So what's this spell 'Mione's been teaching you?"

"It's called Wingardium Leviosa," Buffy said, "It's meant to make things float but I haven't gotten even a wiggle out of my feather," she said pointing to the white feather on the table in front of her.

"Well go on show us how you do it," Faith said pulling her own wand out of the waistband of her jeans.

Buffy showed her how Hermione had waved her wand and the incantation that was used and the two of them giggled at the absurdity of what they were doing, sitting down and waving magic wands about.

"Willow would have a field day with this," Buffy laughed.

"Red would be jealous of our wicked wands," Faith said deftly balancing her wand on the tip of her finger, "Which I'm totally gonna kick your ass with."

"As if," Buffy snorted, "You couldn't kick my ass even if you wanted to."

"B I could kick your ass with my eyes closed."

"Go on then Merlin, show me what you got."

Faith blew her a kiss and ducked out of the way of the blonde's hand which had been going to hit her on the back of her head and turned to face the feather on the table. Concentrating on what she wanted the feather to do she said the incantation Buffy had told her and waved her wand almost shrieking in surprise when it suddenly began to lift off the table.

"Bloody hell."


	10. You're gonna need a bigger stake

**Chapter Ten: You're gonna need a bigger stake.**

For a native Californian the frigid winter air of London was unwelcoming and uncomfortable. Buffy shivered as she dug her hands deeper into the thick coat she was wearing and suddenly wished she had taken Mrs Weasley up on the offer of an extra pair of gloves which she had declined as they would've clashed with her stylish yet practical outfit. The Bostonian next to her was practically skipping, her cheeks rosy from the cold and the excitement of prospective slaying. While Faith's memories of Boston had been far from pleasant the one time of year she always looked forward to was winter.

Winters in Boston were freezing and long but Faith had never felt safer than when the streets were blanketed in a thick layer of snow. The streets were always deserted when the icy air blew strongly and she had been able to relax despite the frosty conditions knowing that the usual creeps would not be around to bother her. She felt safer out in the cold and bitter streets than she did in her own home with her mother and the cold London air reminding her of some of the few happy times from her youth.

"Are my fingers still attached?" Buffy asked holding them in front of the other Slayer's face.

"Hard to tell through all that pink," Faith said, "Looks like you've dipped your hands in cotton candy."

"As opposed to you with your predictable black leather," Buffy grumbled.

"I look good in leather," Faith said wiggling her own gloved fingers, "You still grumpy that I bested you with the spell and shit?"

"No I'm not mad about you being better at the spells and shit," Buffy said rolling her eyes.

"Are you sure? It kind of seemed like you were when you pushed me into that wall earlier."

"I'm not mad at you," Buffy sighed stopping to face the other girl. Her heart rate picked up as her eyes travelled over the Bostonian's leather covered figure and she felt her cheeks redden as a sudden image of the two of them lying in the snow with a lot less clothing on flashed into her mind.

"Yo B, you in there?" Faith's hand waving in front of her face snapped her back to reality.

"Sorry, I think my brain is turning to ice," Buffy said shaking her head to clear it, "Can you still see Sirius?"

"I can still smell him," Faith said screwing up her nose, "You would think for someone who wasn't a realy dog he would come without the doggy odour."

It had been decided back at the house that Sirius would stay a little in front of them so as not to derive suspicion about the two girls walking with the large black dog. Word had gotten round the most powerful of wizarding circles that the former Azkaban resident was an animagus and those seen with one were instantly put under instant suspicion by those in the know. Lupin who had originally been set to join them on patrol had been called away on urgent business for the Order but no one had been willing to share exactly what that was so it was only the two Slayers and Sirius in his dog form that braved the icy winter night.

"Is that his tail up there?" Buffy asked squinting into the dark night. They were patrolling a park near to the Order Headquarters were more than half of the street lights had blown plunging the area into darkness.

"I dunno, I'm itchin' for a fight though," Faith said stretching her arms above her head making Buffy's eyes travel to the strip of skin between her jacket and jeans that were revealed with that action, "I can feel all this energy inside of me just waiting to me let out ya know."

"Uh huh, energy," Buffy nodded dumbly.

"What's with you tonight B? You go get friendly with Mary Jane while I wasn't looking or something?" Faith asked.

"I don't think there's anyone called Mary Jane at the house is there?" Buffy asked blinking and returning her gaze to Faith's face, "Unless we're suddenly in a Spiderman movie or something."

"You're something else ya know that Twinkie," she laughs her eyes glittering with amusement, "Tell ya what, soon as we get out of this mess you and I we'll go light up and have ourselves a good time."

"Light up? Are you talking about smoking? 'Cause I don't smoke and you shouldn't either it'll make your teeth go yellow and gross."

"Relax B, there's far worse things in this world that will kill me quicker than smoking will," Faith said, blowing her breath out like she would if she were smoking, the cold air making it visible.

"Well I don't want you to die," Buffy said the tips of her ears reddening, "I-I mean then I'd have to get to know the new Slayer and that just wouldn't fit into my schedule."

Faith looked at her funnily and Buffy had to advert her eyes from the feelings she thought she saw flickering below the surface of the other Slayer's dark gaze. Her insides were in turmoil as two sets of soulful brown eyes seemed to permeate themselves into her brain. She thought she would never feel love like she felt for Angel but there was something about Faith that made her stomach churn and heart race. The other Slayer drew her in with an intoxication she couldn't describe and made her feel things she had never felt before. These feelings only added to her confusion and the guilt over the building and overwhelming attraction she felt for the Bostonian Slayer was only making her inner turmoil worse. She could feel Faith looking at her and when she finally lifted her eyes to meet the brown of her counterpart she felt a shiver run down her spine as the world seemed to slow around them.

Sirius' howl penetrated the otherwise silent night and the two Slayers and they dragged their gaze away from one another to look over to where the large black dog was situated. They could see seven vampires approaching from the south, all who looked to be holding various weapons.

"Guess it's show time," Faith smirked licking her lips in anticipation, "You ready to show these ugly British fuckers what we Americans can do?"

"She didn't mean you Sirius," Buffy called hurriedly as the two Slayers reached for the stakes they carried and charged into the fray, "We don't think you're ugly."

"Just these ugly bastards," Faith said slamming her fist into the face of the first vampire that approached her.

Buffy could hear Sirius growling as he joined the fight and Faith's taunts as she fought three vampires at once. While she herself would usually be throwing quips as well as punches she found herself having to concentrate harder than usual as these vampires were coordinated and skilled with the weapons they wielded. Buffy ducked a knife strike and punched the approaching vampire in the neck, appreciating the way she could feel bone crunching under her knuckles. She used the fallen vampire as a shield, throwing him into the other vampire she was facing causing them both to fall to the ground in a tangled heap. The third rushed her with a snarl and landed a kick to her stomach driving her back into a nearby tree. Using a branch just above her head Buffy pulled herself up and wrapped her legs around the vampire's neck, flipping herself over his head and pulling him down in the process. With a quick downward thrust she plunged her stake into his chest, not waiting to see him turn to dust before whirling around to face the other two who had regained their footing and were rushing at her, their yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight.

She could see that Sirius was still fighting his vampire and Faith still toying with the three who circled her. The dark slayer's eyes were alive with the fight and she was giving as good as she got. Buffy could see that her lip was split and there was a nasty gash above her eye were a vamp had gotten lucky with a knife but Faith looked to be having the time of her life. She smiled feeling the other Slayer's excitement through their connection and used this to grab hold of the blonde haired vampire's shoulders bringing her knee up into his face, snapping his head back and driving her stake into his chest, seeing her last opponent's angry face through the disappearing particles of his friend.

"You're going to pay for that," the vampire said in a thick Welsh accent.

"And you're going to pay for wearing that," Buffy said pointing to his brightly coloured paisley shirt.

With a growl the vampire lunged at her driving his shoulder into her stomach and forcing her to roll with the impact. She felt winded and gasped for air as she fended off the blow he sent towards her head and grappled around for the stake she had lost when he had smacked into her. The vampire smirked as he kicked it away from her and ran his tongue of his teeth.

"I told you you were going to pay for that," he said leaning over her menacingly. Buffy felt his teeth prick her neck for a split second before he disappeared in a cloud of dust. Coughing she pulled herself up to a sitting position and wiped a hand over the front of her coat.

"She may be better than me at the spells and shit but I'd like to see her do that," Buffy said pocketing the wand she had used to stake her last vampire.

Hoisting herself up to her feet she jumped when a loud crack echoed through the night and she felt someone grab her around the waist and something hard pressed into her temple. Sirius' howl turned into a scream as the vampire he was fighting plunged his knife into the dog's belly forcing the man to revert back into his human state. In the sudden flurry of activity Faith had managed to stake the vampires she had been fighting and her head swivelled between the injured man being held around the throat by a snarling vampire and Buffy who had a wand held to her head by a man dressed in black robes whose long white blonde hair blew in the cool breeze.

"Buffy," the dark haired Slayer cried moving towards her counterpart.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the blonde haired man sneered, "One wrong move and your friend here will be dead in a second."

"It's okay Faith," Buffy said trying to sound comforting but feeling fear creep along her spine.

"Lucius," Sirius gasped as blood poured from the large wound in his stomach.

"Sirius," the blonde haired man sneered.

"You need to stand back and let her go," Sirius gasped as the colour drained from his face.

"That choice is unfortunately not up to me," Lucius smiled cruelly, "Our young Faith here must choose who is to live."

"What," Faith said and Buffy could see her bravado falter.

"It is a simple choice really," Lucius smirked, "Should you chose to kill the vampire than Buffy lives but if you don't then she dies."

The vampire holding onto Sirius grinned as he held tightly to the quickly weakening man. Buffy could see the wheels turning in Faith's head as she looked over at Sirius. The vampire was holding the injured man so that his back was pressed tightly to the vampire's chest so the only access to his heart would be to go through Sirius. Buffy watched as Faith's whole body seemed to shake as realisation of exactly what Lucius meant hit her.

"I-I can't do it," she said turning to face the blonde haired wizard.

"Then she dies," he shrugged easily raising his wand.

"NO!" Faith shouted, "Don't kill her. Take me instead."

"That's not how it works," Lucius said pushing his wand painfully into Buffy's temple, "It's her or him, you must chose, you after all the Slayer aren't you? A Slayer kills Faith and you must make your choice as to who lives."

"Faith," Sirius wheezed, "You must do it. Buffy is far more important in this fight than I am. I'm dying, I can feel it. You must save her."

"Sirius," Buffy said feeling tears beginning to stream down her face as she looked at the resigned face of the older man and the tortured one of her fellow Slayer.

"It's alright Buffy," he rasped, "You were brought here for a reason and my purpose in this world has already been served."

"So Faith, what is your choice?" Lucius asked, "Do you kill a man you hardly know or do you kill the girl who has always made you feel inferior?"

"I'm so sorry," Faith whispered looking into Sirius' eyes.

"Tell Harry I love him," the dark haired man said closing his eyes.

The stake seemed to move in slow motion as it soared through the air and Buffy fought back the scream that got stuck in her throat as it embedded itself so deep in the man's chest that it pierced the heart of the vampire behind him. The horrible sucking sound it made as it penetrated through his body seemed to echo into the still night and Sirius didn't even have time to scream before he was dead.

"He will be pleased with your choice," Lucius said, disappearing with a crack before Siruis' body had even fallen to the floor.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Buffy said hurrying over to the prone man on the ground and placing her hands over the man's wound even though she knew it would do no good.

"He's dead," Faith said staring down at the two of them, "It's not going to do anything B he's dead."

"I know it's just," Buffy trailed off and reaching with a shaky hand to close his eyes, "It was too fast. It happened too fast."

"Yeah, it did," Faith said.

Buffy looked up at the other Slayer then sharply, the gravity of their situation hitting her like a tonne of bricks. Faith had had to kill someone to save her. Faith had been forced to take a human life. She didn't even know how she was going to help the other Slayer through this, or how they were going to explain to the other's back at the house what had happened.

"Oh god Harry," Buffy thought suddenly her stomach lurching. Sirius had been the only family the dark haired boy had and he was gone.

"We gotta go," Faith said suddenly, "We can't stay here, the cops might come."

"We can't just leave him Faith," Buffy said tears still dripping from her eyes, "W-we'll have to get him back to the house."

"You think no one is gonna notice us walking around with a fucking dead body," Faith yelled, "We have to leave him," she said grabbing for Buffy's hand that was slick with blood.

The dark Slayer half pulled half carried the protesting other Slayer back the way that they came until they were well out of sight of the park. Once clear she stopped panting as she doubled over against a brick wall and Buffy could only hold her hair back as she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the sidewalk.

"I had to," Faith rasped, gasping for air, "I didn't want to, I had to."

Buffy nodded because there was nothing more she could say. It was because of her that Sirius was dead, because they were brought here that Harry had lost the closest thing he had felt to family in fifteen years. It was because of her that Faith had been forced to kill somebody and would forever have to live with blood on her hands.

Sirius had said that they had a purpose for being here, but at that moment she couldn't see what on earth that would be.


	11. Houston, we have a problem

**A/N: Sorry for the long waits between chapters. I'm at the very end of semester so kind of bogged down with Uni assignments. **

**Chapter Eleven: Houston, we have a problem.**

Buffy could tell Faith was seconds away from running so she grabbed hold of her gloved hand and held onto it tightly. She knew in her desperate state that Faith could probably fight her off if she really tried but she hoped it wouldn't come to violence. There had been too much violence already that night...

Her gloves were slick with Sirius's blood but that only made her hold on tighter as if Faith was going to fade away if she didn't.

"We have to get back," she said softly, "They need to know what's happened and it's probably not safe out here."

Faith's eyes were tormented as they finally met her gaze and Buffy was suddenly overcome with how young the other Slayer looked. She wanted to pull Faith to her and hold her and tell her everything would be alright but she had a feeling that that would be the worst thing she could do right now. Instead she settled for holding the other girl's hand in a tight and reassuring grip that was as much for comfort as it was to make sure she didn't run away.

The walk back to the Headquarters felt like they were heading towards the gallows. Buffy felt herself glancing over at Faith whose hand she still held tightly as they walked along the deserted footpath. Faith's face was hard, a stark contrast to the frightened young girl who had looked back at her earlier. It looked to Buffy like she was shutting down and putting up the walls that kept her hidden from the world.

"It's going to be okay you know," Buffy said knowing her words were falling on deaf ears.

Faith didn't say anything in response but Buffy didn't really think that she would. It felt strangely like déjà vu when Gwendolyn Post had rolled into Sunnydale and ruined any progress the two Slayers had been making in getting to know each other. Faith had shut her out then and Buffy had let her, but she wasn't going to let her this time. This was pretty much the lowest a human being could feel and Buffy wasn't going to let her go it alone.

The looming front of Grimmauld Place seemed to reach into the sky and the foreboding feeling in Buffy's stomach made it feel like her insides were trying to escape. She could only image how Faith must be feeling. The dark Slayer's hand was limp in hers but Buffy could see the muscles in Faith's back were tense and her face was hard as she stared at the tall brick building in front of them. They both knew when they got inside they were going to devastate Harry by informing him he had lost the only real sense of family he had had since his parents died. Not only that they had no idea how the rest of the Order would react to the news that Faith had killed Sirius.

"How do we get in?" Buffy asked pulling out her wand, "Mad Eye just stamped his stick and Tonks waved her wand but do we have to say a spell to make the building do that splitsville thing."

When Faith didn't answer Buffy sighed and waved her wand at the building, concentrating on what she wanted to achieve. She almost squealed in excitement when the familiar rumbling sounded but held herself in check when she remembered the situation they were in.

"Come on," she said tugging on Faith's hand when the other Slayer didn't budge.

"We can't," Faith croaked, "We can't tell them B. They won't understand."

"Faith, honey," Buffy said softly turning so she was facing the other Slayer still holding onto her hand, "We have to. They'll know something is up when Sirius doesn't return from patrol with us and we have to let them know about the guy with the major peroxide. He totally set you up and we have to find out why."

"Yeah and how long do ya think they're gonna let us stay when they find out what I did?" Faith said angrily, "You think they're gonna be real happy to help when they find out I killed one of them."

"It's going to be hard," Buffy sighed, "But they're warriors just like us. They will understand that in war people are lost, sacrificed for the greater good, but they will understand."

"Will you save me the greater good crap," Faith said ripping her hand from Buffy's grasp with enough force that Buffy felt her shoulder strain painfully, "Someone just died B. How can you say that is for the greater good?"

"I don't know," Buffy said softly, "But I do know that we have to tell them. We can't hide this Faith and it'll be hard but it's the right thing to do."

The blonde Slayer held her hand out to the other girl, hoping with everything that she had that Faith would take it of her own accord. She sighed quietly in relief when Faith reluctantly took her hand and she tightened her grip so Faith couldn't pull away again.

"Whatever happens in there I want you to know that we're in this together," Buffy said to her as they approached the door."

"Right," Faith scoffed, "'Cause it was you who put the stake through his heart."

"It might as well have been," Buffy said quietly, "If the roles had been reversed you know I would have done the same thing."

"Would you?" Faith asked sceptically, "Because I'm kind of thinking that you wouldn't."

"Why would you think that?" Buffy asked, "I would never let you die."

"You wouldn't have saved me for the same reasons," Faith whispered turning her head away.

"Hey!" Buffy said strongly, "Don't go telling me what I would do. I care about you and if it had been you with the wand to your head I would've killed Sirius in a heartbeat."

Faith glanced at her and smirked, "That's kind of messed up B," she said before the smile fell from her face as if it were wrong to be laughing at a time like this.

"It really was," Buffy said sadness tinging her tone, "But it's true so you're just going to have to deal. Come on, I don't know how long this is gonna stay open," she said waving her hands at the door that had appeared, "And I really don't want to find out what happens if you get stuck halfway."

Before the other Slayer had a chance to protest Buffy opened the door and pulled her through into the long and dusty hallway.

"FILTHY DISGUSTING GIRL!" the portrait of Mrs. Black screamed as they walked past, "YOU DARE ENTER MY HOUSE WITH A TRAITOR'S BLOOD ON YOU. YOU DARE STAIN MY FLOORS WITH THAT FILTH."

"Shut your mouth you stupid bitch," Buffy growled at the portrait as she felt Faith pull back.

"Buffy, Faith is that you?" Mrs. Weasley called sticking her head out of the door further down the hallway that led to the living room, "Tell that old witch she can keep her mouth shut."

"It's us," Buffy called back to her looking back at Faith who seemed to have paled in the dull hallway light.

"Well come on then," Mrs Weasley beckoned, "Everyone is excited to hear how patrol went. I had to threaten to use glue made from a Troll's mucus to shut Ron's mouth with to get him to be quiet he was so excited."

The hallway seemed comically long as the two Slayers made their way hand in hand towards where Mrs Weasley was leaning out the doorway. Through their Slayer connection Buffy could feel Faith's growing anticipation and fear which she knew would not be present if she was looking at the other Slayer's face. She gave Faith's hand a comforting squeeze which she was delighted to feel the other girl returned.

"Oh my goodness!" Mrs Weasley shrieked when she got a good look at them, "Buffy dear are you alright? I told Arthur it was too dangerous, I knew it wasn't a good idea."

"I'm okay Mrs Weasley," Buffy said softly, "It's not my blood."

"Well whose is it?" Mrs Weasley asked turning her worried gaze to Faith," Faith are you hurt? Is it your blood?"

"No," Faith said quietly, "I'm not hurt, it's not mine."

"Well whose is it then? And where's Sirius? Did he not follow you home?" the older woman asked peering into the shadows behind them for the former Azkaban resident.

"Is everyone here?" Buffy asked wiping the hair out of her eyes.

"Tonks is at her parent's house and Severus is still at the school with Dumbledore but the rest of the Order is here," Mrs Weasley said, "Buffy what is going on?"

"We need to take a shower," Buffy said, "We can't talk to them looking like this but if you could maybe get everyone into the living room we'll explain it to everyone when we're cleaned up."

"Of course," Mrs Weasley said, "Take the stairs that to up on the left and you should miss everyone on the way up to your room."

"Thanks Mrs Weasley," Buffy said pulling on Faith's hand to get her to move.

"Buffy," Mrs Weasley said quietly stopping them in their tracks, "It's not good is it."

"No," Buffy said softly, "It's really really not."

"Do you want to shower first?" Buffy asked Faith when they reached their room.

The other Slayer had sat herself heavily on her purple mattress and was staring at her hand silently as Buffy got out a pair of sweats and tshirt.

"Faith?"

"No, I'm good," Faith said.

"Are you going to be okay until I get back?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not a child B," Faith's eyes flashed, "I don't need to be babysat."

"I'm not saying that you do I just think it would be good if we stuck together," Buffy said, "And also you know I'm here, if you need me."

"I'm fine," Faith said resolutely, "Go and shower you look like something out of a Halloween special."

Buffy bit her lip from saying anything and looked at Faith for a second before nodding her head.

"You'll be here when I get back?"

"Where would I go B?"

"I dunno, but just wait here till I get back."

"I'll be here."

The water was tinged with pink as she let the warmth cascade over her body washing away the blood that coated her hands and face. She wanted to hide in the warm steam caccooon and never face what she knew was waiting for her downstairs. She knew she couldn't because for one she didn't want to leave Faith alone for any longer than she had to, afraid of what the younger girl would do if left alone with her thoughts for too long. Buffy herself had been in the same position not long ago when she thought she had accidentally killed her mother's boyfriend and she was only too well aware of how the feelings of guilt felt like they were swallowing you whole.

With those thoughts in mind Buffy took what was probably the shortest shower of her life and was changed and back in their shared room within five minutes. To her relief Faith was exactly where she had left her, staring at her hands in silence.

"You ready to do this?" Buffy asked flinching when the other Slayer jerked in surprise obviously not realising she had been in the room.

"Whatever," Faith said standing and crossing her arms.

Faith's face revealed nothing but Buffy could see the tension in her body by the way she held herself. She had this sudden desire to wrap her arms around the Bostonian and just hold her and for what felt like the first time in forever Buffy followed her instincts. Faith's back felt like rock when Buffy wrapped her arms around it and the other girl protested verbally.

"B what the hell are you doing?"

"You look like you needed a hug," Buffy said squeezing her harder, "I wanted to hug you."

"I don't do hugs," Faith said stiffly pulling back. Buffy let her but kept her arms wrapped around her waist.

"Well maybe the hug is not all for you," the blonde Slayer said sadly, "Maybe I needed to be hugged. Tonight has been horrific and nightmare inducing and I'm going to sound like a broken record here but I want you to know that we're going to deal together and apparently I show that by hugging people."

Faith didn't say anything but she didn't pull away any further which Buffy took as a sign of victory. Faith's body was still ramrod straight but she wrapped her arms tentatively around Buffy like she was holding something that might explode at any second. Buffy stared into the other Slayer's eyes and for a second she swore she could see something there behind the facade that Faith put up to hide herself from the world. She saw a softness and a longing there and then suddenly she was kissing Faith and her brain was screaming at her to stop but her lips were insistent with a touch of desperation and there was no stopping her.

Faith kissed her back with as much desperation until she suddenly seemed to realise what was happening and she pulled back gasping for air.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I-I don't know," Buffy said running a hand through her wet hair.

"You think you can just go around kissing people whenever the hell you feel like?"

"I didn't mean to! I mean I did mean to, I wanted to, I don't know," Buffy said sinking down onto her mattress, "I wanted to make you feel better."

"I'm not a charity case!" Faith all but screamed, "You can't just kiss me and expect everything to be okay."

"I don't think you're a charity case," Buffy said, "I didn't mean it like that. I thought I saw something that said you wanted me to kiss you and I wanted to kiss you so I did. Please don't be mad, I didn't mean for it to make you mad."

"Yeah well I am fucking mad! You can't play with people like that," Faith growled, "You can't just kiss me because you think it will make me feel better. It doesn't work like that."

"I know and I'm sorry," Buffy said watching the other Slayer pace angrily in front of her, "Actually you know what, I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry at all. You kissed me back. You kissed me back because you wanted me to kiss you. So I'm not sorry. I've wanted to do that since I don't know when but it felt right then and I'm sorry if you think that it makes you a charity case because that is not how I meant it and you kissed me back. So screw you if you think you're going to make me feel bad about it."

"You have a boyfriend," Faith said without much of the fire she had spoken with before.

"No I don't," Buffy sighed, "Whatever Angel is to me it's not my boyfriend. He can't be and to be honest being with him now is more out of habit than anything else. He can't offer me anything and he knows it. We're both hiding behind this facade of a relationship because it means we both don't have to face the scary fact that without each other we would be very much alone."

"Last I heard you were falling head over heels for this guy."

"Facade. Look it up."

"Look B you shouldn't be kissing me. All those things you just said about Angel and him not being able to offer you anything, it's the same with me. If we learnt anything from tonight it's that I'm a fuckup and I don't wanna bring you into my mess anymore than I already have," Faith said lowering her eyes.

"Tonight wasn't your fault," Buffy said standing so she was in front of the other girl, "Tonight was horrible and unfair and you did what you had to but it wasn't your fault."

"Somehow I don't think Harry is going to see it like that," Faith said sadly.

"He's not going to be able to see it rationally for awhile," Buffy said taking the other girl's hand, "But he has friends who will help him through it and we'll just have to deal with him wanting our heads for a bit."

"I feel sick," Faith said softly.

"So do I," Buffy said pulling the other girl in for another hug. Faith didn't resist this time and relaxed into the embrace.

"I'm not very good at this," Faith said after awhile, "I let people down, it's kind of what I'm good at."

"We'll take it slow," Buffy said, "Whatever this turns out to be, we'll take it one moment at a time. And you're wrong about not being able to offer me anything."

"This all feels really fucking sudden," Faith said pulling back.

"It's not," Buffy said, "It feels like it is but it's not. It feels like I've always wanted to do that but I never had the courage to do it because I didn't know how you'd react."

"I've wanted to kiss you from the very moment I saw you outside the Bronze," Faith said, "With your lip all pouty 'cause I stole your stake and bagged that vamp."

"Well I'm telling you now you can kiss my pouty lip anytime you want," Buffy smiled shyly looking up at Faith through her eyelashes. Their lips met again, only this time it was soft and filled with feeling.

"It feels so wrong to feel happy right now," Faith said when the kiss ended.

"I know," Buffy said closing her eyes, "But I don't think I'd be able to get through the next few days, let alone the next few hours if it wasn't with you by my side, completely and fully."

"I can't promise you that I'm going to be good at this being together thing," Faith said.

"I'm not asking you to," Buffy said, "I'm asking you to give me the chance to show you how much I want to be with you and we're probably both going to screw up but nobody is perfect so we can be screw ups but we're going to be screw ups together."

"Has anybody ever told you you're kind of wonderful?"

"Did Faith Lehane just use the word wonderful?"

"It felt like the right time," Faith shrugged placing a soft kiss on Buffy's lips, "Damn I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to the fact that Buffy Summers is letting me kiss her."

"Get used to it," Buffy said smiling, "Because Buffy Summers wants you to kiss her a lot."

"I'm sorry I yelled at ya before, I'm just..."

"I know, it's okay," Buffy said tenderly brushing her fingertips along Faith's cheek, "We should probably go down now, they'll be waiting for us."

"I don't think that I can."

"I'll be right there with you," Buffy said gripping Faith's hand tightly, "I'm not going anywhere. Together remember."

"Only it wasn't you who..."

"No, but it could have been. The longer we drag this out the harder this is going to be."

"Okay. Together."


End file.
